title: Hygiene intervention reduces contamination of weaning food in Bangladesh.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was conducted to measure the impact of a hygiene intervention on the contamination of weaning food in Bangladesh.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty households were selected: 30 study and 30 control households. Samples of weaning food were collected from all the 60 households at baseline and examined for faecal coliforms (FC), faecal streptococci (FS) and Clostridium perfringens (CP) following standard procedures. After cooking, food samples were collected on three occasions before feeding. Following Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) procedures, critical control points were determined. The mothers in the 30 study households were then trained for 4 weeks in how to attain the control point conditions. Then, again the food samples were collected and analysed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At baseline, weaning foods from study and control households were heavily contaminated with FC and FS. The FC and FS counts were 1.84 log(10)  and 1.92 log(10)  colony-forming unit (cfu)/g, respectively, in the study households, and 0.86 log(10)  and 1.33 log(10)  cfu/g, respectively, in the control households in the first feeding. After the intervention, the FC and FS counts in study households had dropped to 0.10 log(10)  and 0.09 log(10)  cfu/g, respectively, a statistically significant reduction (P < 0.001). Monitoring the sustainability of the behaviour change after 3 months showed that the mothers were maintaining food hygiene.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A hygiene intervention following the HACCP approach reduced the weaning food contamination significantly. Awareness building among mothers about weaning food hygiene could be an important intervention for preventing weaning food-related diarrhoea in Bangladesh.
authors.affiliation: International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh. sislam@icddrb.org
authors.forename: Mohammad Sirajul
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Islam
authors.forename: Zahid Hayat
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Mahmud
authors.forename: Partha Sarathi
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Gope
authors.forename: Rokon Uz
authors.initials: RU
authors.lastname: Zaman
authors.forename: Zakir
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hossain
authors.forename: Mohammad Shafiqul
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Islam
authors.forename: Dinesh
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mondal
authors.forename: Mohammad Abu Yushuf
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Sharker
authors.forename: Khairul
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Islam
authors.forename: Hasin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jahan
authors.forename: Abbas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bhuiya
authors.forename: Hubert P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Endtz
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cravioto
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Curtis
authors.forename: Ousmane
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Touré
authors.forename: Sandy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cairncross
mesh_terms: D001459:Bangladesh; D003150:Community Health Workers; D003968:Diarrhea, Infantile / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005511:Food Handling; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007225:Infant Food / Q000382:microbiology*; D009035:Mothers; D012424:Rural Population; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014886:Weaning