Food safety practices and its associated factors of women food business operators in self help group in Puducherry

Food safety practices are the shared responsibility of everyone in the food industry in all stages like production, storage, packaging and serving food. It is an increasingly important public health issue to prevent or control food borne illness. The food safety practices of the food handlers are often associated with the certain factors like education, basic awareness about hygiene and sanitation, economic background etc. For this reason, assessing the food safety practices and its influencing factors among the Self Help Group Food Business Operators in Puducherry region was felt very indispensable. The study targeted the SHG FBO’s in Puducherry region. The study involved a field survey and the food safety practices of the SHG FBO’s were analyzed through interview schedule. Majority (59.7 percent) of respondents belonged to the age group of 31-40 years. Majority (46.7 percent) of SHG FBO’s were able to read and write. Contribution of independent variables on food hygiene risk score was analyzed using Multiple Linear Regression analysis (α= 0.05 significant level). Out of the twelve independent variables, the regression coefficient of scheme of the SHG, monthly income, per captia income of the respondents and the years of experience in the field of SHG were statistically significant with the food safety practices of SHG FBO’s. From the results it was clear that the SHG FBO’s should be educated about the food safety practices, cross-contamination, safe temperature and technological aspects of street food vending.