الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Food safety is the conditions and measures that are necessary during production, preparation, storage and distribution and of food to ensure that it is safe and fitfor human consumption. Food is considered safe when it is free fromchemical, biological or physical hazard that may result in illnesses or even death to theconsumer. In hospitals, food service personnel are the ones responsible for preparing food for patients.All food service personnel who are directly in contact with food are identified as foodhandlers. The spread of disease via food handlers is a common and persistent problem worldwide. Food handlers may carry a wide range of entero-pathogens and participated in the transmission of many infections to the public in the community and to patients in hospitals. Also, improper food handling practices contributed to approximately 97% of foodborne illnesses in food-service establishments. Food hygiene and safety and the role of food handlers in ensuring it in the hospital setting cannot be overemphasized. It is therefore important that the food service personnel maintain proper hygienestandards. This cross-sectional study evaluated 209 food handlers in six of Mansoura university hospitals᾿ kitchens. They were subjected to questionnaire, observational checklist, skin, respiratory examination, nasal and under nail swabs, but only 107 of them accepted to make stool analysis. The results on knowledge showed that 22.0% only of food handlers were knowledgeable regarding food safety as compared to 78.0% who had fair to poor knowledge, while the results on attitude showed that 60.7% of food handlers had good attitude towards food safety as compared to 39.3% who had fair to poor attitude. However, the results on practices showed that 59.3% of food handlers had good practice as compared to 40.7% who had inadequate food hygiene practices. There is a significant difference in KAP scores of food handlers regarding their educational level indicating a need to consider education level when employing staff to work in public hospital. There is also significant difference in their KAP scores regarding gender, residence and type of work. It is apparent from this study that a good knowledge in food safety and attitude is indicative of food safety practice in the real world. The majority of studied food handlers revealed positive growth in both cultures of under nail and nasal swabs and the most detected organism was MRSA. The study revealed a high prevalence of intestinal parasites among food handlers; a total of 95 bacterial strains and 93 intestinal parasites were isolated from the 107 examined food handlers. Cooks and food service workers are at high risk of occupational injury in the workplace. Prevention policies should be developed to reduce the hazards present at their workplaces and promote safer work practices.