Food Safety and Hygiene Practices in Medium Size Hotel in Ondo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The increasing rate of diseases associated to food has called for serious attention.  This assertion forms the basis for undertaken this study that hinged on ensuring food safety and hygienic practices in medium size hotels in Ondo State, Nigeria. The study State was divided into three clusters and two hotels were randomly selected in each of the cluster. A field observation was undertaken to assess the level of compliance with standard guidelines on hygiene and safety measures, examining the equipment used in food preparations and safety measures. The food handlers in the selected hotels were randomly selected while visitors were purposively selected based on their willingness to participate in the study. A well-designed questionnaire was utilized to gather information from both tourists and food handlers. Microbial laboratory analysis was carried out on the collected food samples. The perceptions of the customers on the cleanliness and hygiene examined using a set of ten indicators revealed that customers had positive and good perception of the hotels’ environment (weighted mean =4.51 to 4.92). The results revealed that on the average the food handlers observed most of the itemized practices (weighted mean= 3.28 to 4.0). The viable count (TVC)/ Total viable bacteria count (cfu/g) ranged between (4-1)×103cfu/g. Though, the selected hotels adhered to food safety and hygiene practices, there is need to maintain and sustain this high level of performance by the relevant stakeholders.