Food safety within the household: a cross-sectional study among domestic food handlers in Italy
Description
This study was designed as a cross-sectional survey and conducted between July 2021 and January 2022 among a sample of domestic food handlers (DFHs) in Calabria, a region of Southern Italy. The inclusion criteria to be eligible to participate in the study were: (1) age ≥ 18 years and (2) ability to understand, speak and read Italian. Individuals who declined to sign the consent form were excluded from the study. The information was collected both through an electronic Google form and a self-administered paper form. The final survey was designed to be completed within ten minutes and it consisted of 23 questions grouped into five sections: (a) sociodemographic characteristics (i.e., gender, age, marital status, education level, occupation) alongside a question about the participant’s interest in food safety; (b) knowledge about FBDs (four questions with a “true/false/don’t know” response format); (c) risk perceptions (three items on a 10-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 for “not at all” to 10 for “very high”) and concerns (two questions with multiple choice answers) related to FBDs and food safety; (d) food handling practices in the domestic environment (five questions closed-ended with multiple answers); (e) type of information sources about food safety, related satisfaction, and need for further information on the topic.