Title
Effect of health education on food hygiene behavior among food providers in India
Authors
Durgesh Kumar Sharma1, Rashmi Pilkhwal2,* & Shweta Shrivastava1
Affiliation
1Department of Community Medicine, Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India; 2Department of Community Medicine, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government Medical College, Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, India; *Corresponding author
Durgesh Kumar Sharma - E-mail: durgesh.sharma1512@gmail.com; Phone: +91 9826956701 Rashmi Pilkhwal - E-mail: drrashmipilkhwal@gmail.com; Phone: +91 8770323819
Shweta Shrivastava - E-mail: shwshri44@gmail.com; Phone: +91 9826345430
Article Type
Research Article
Date
Received April 1, 2026; Revised April 30, 2026; Accepted April 30, 2026, Published April 30, 2026
Abstract
Poor food hygiene practices among food handlers contribute significantly to food-borne diseases and public health burden. Therefore, it is of interest to assess the food hygiene behavior of food suppliers working within the campus of Gandhi Medical College and Hamidia Hospital to determine the difference between pre- and post-test scores. This was a quasi-experimental pre- and post-educational intervention study conducted on the campus of Gandhi Medical College and Hamidia Hospital in Bhopal over 3 months. Descriptive statistics were depicted and McNemar's test was calculated on pre- and post-test proportions. The educational intervention significantly improved food handlers' understanding of food hygiene behavior, which is crucial for minimizing the risk of foodborne illnesses. Thus, we show that the food handlers exhibited inadequate food hygiene practices during the study.
Keywords
Food safety (FS), public health, food handlers (FHS), food hygiene behavior, food-borne diseases
Citation
Sharma et al. Bioinformation 22(4): 2063-2068 (2026)
Edited by
Vini Mehta
ISSN
0973-2063
Publisher
License
This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
