Food safety knowledge, attitude, and practice toward compliance with abattoir laws among the abattoir workers in Malaysia.
OBJECTIVE
Foodborne diseases are common in the developing countries due to the predominant poor food handling and sanitation practices, particularly as a result of inadequate food safety laws, weak regulatory structures, and inadequate funding as well as a lack of appropriate education for food-handlers. The most frequently involved foods in disease outbreaks are of animal origin. However, in spite of the adequate legislation and laws governing the abattoir operation in Malaysia, compliance with food safety requirements during meat processing and waste disposal is inadequate. Therefore, the present study was designed to assess the food safety knowledge, attitude, and practice toward compliance with abattoir laws among the workers in Terengganu, Malaysia.


METHODS
A cross-sectional survey was conducted using simple random sampling technique in the six districts of Terengganu: two districts were used for the pilot study and the remaining four were used for the main study. One hundred sixty-five abattoir workers from the selected districts were interviewed using a structured questionnaire.


RESULTS
The mean and standard deviation of knowledge, attitude, and practice scores of the workers were 6.02 and 1.954, 45.16 and 4.496, and 18.03 and 3.186, respectively. The majority of the workers (38.8%) had a low level of knowledge and 91.7% had a positive attitude, while 77.7% had a good practice of compliance. Sex had a significant association with the level of knowledge (P<0.001) and practice (P=0.044) among the workers. The females had a higher level of knowledge than the males, while the males had a better practice of compliance than females. Similarly, knowledge also had a significant (P=0.009) association with the level of practice toward compliance with abattoir laws among the workers.


CONCLUSIONS
The abattoir workers had a positive attitude and good practice, but a low level of knowledge toward compliance with the abattoir laws. Therefore, public awareness, workshops, and seminars relevant to the abattoir operations should be encouraged.
Institute for Community Development and Quality of Life (i-CODE), Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA), Kampus Gong Badak, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia; Faculty of Medicine, Department of Community Medicine, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA), Kampus Kota, Jalan Sultan Mahmud, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia; Department of Animal Health and Husbandry, Audu Bako College of Agriculture, Dambatta, Kano, Nigeria.
Auwalu
A
Abdullahi
Institute for Community Development and Quality of Life (i-CODE), Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA), Kampus Gong Badak, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia.
Azmi
A
Hassan
Faculty of Medicine, Department of Community Medicine, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA), Kampus Kota, Jalan Sultan Mahmud, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia.
Norizhar
N
Kadarman
School of Animal Science, Faculty of Bio-resources and Food Industry, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA), Terengganu, Malaysia.
Ahmadu
A
Saleh
Department of Chemical Pathology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Malaysia.
Yusha'u Shu'aibu
YS
Baraya
Community Health Research Cluster, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA), Kampus Gong Badak, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia.
Pei Lin
PL
Lua
KAP; Terengganu; abattoir legislations; abattoir staff; compliance