Knowledge and self-reported food safety practices among meat consumers in Ilorin, Nigeria

Ismail A Odetokun; Zainab Mercy Afolaranmi; Aliyu A Nuhu; Baasim O Borokinni; Ibraheem Ghali-Mohammed; Hama Cisse; Nma Bida Alhaji

doi:10.1016/j.dialog.2022.100039

Knowledge and self-reported food safety practices among meat consumers in Ilorin, Nigeria

Dialogues Health. 2022 Aug 25:1:100039. doi: 10.1016/j.dialog.2022.100039. eCollection 2022 Dec.

Authors

Ismail A Odetokun¹, Zainab Mercy Afolaranmi¹, Aliyu A Nuhu², Baasim O Borokinni¹, Ibraheem Ghali-Mohammed¹, Hama Cisse³, Nma Bida Alhaji⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria.
² London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
³ Laboratory of Applied Biochemistry and Immunology, University Joseph Ki-ZERBO, Burkina Faso.
⁴ Public Health and Epidemiology Department, Niger State Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, Bosso, Minna, Nigeria.

Abstract

As an imperative source of protein to man, meat could also serve as a source of infections when processed poorly. This research studied consumers' knowledge and self-reported food safety practices among 869 meat consumers of different socioeconomic statuses. We summarized the data obtained using descriptive and inferential statistics. Two outcome variables were developed to determine satisfactory knowledge and practices. The knowledge and practice scores were determined through a numeric scoring system based on the respondents' correct responses to knowledge and practices questions. These outcome variables were further categorized into binary variables based on a cut-off point (mean + 1 SD of the scores) with scores greater and lower than the cut-off points considered satisfactory (acceptable/appropriate) and unsatisfactory, respectively. The respondents are predominantly female (54.9%) within the age range of 19-25 years (54.2%) and were unmarried (71.1%). Less than half (46.4% and 40.0%) of the respondents have adequate knowledge and practice levels of food safety. Most meat consumers have identified various challenges to food safety and hazards related to unsafe food safety practices. Important socioeconomic variables of the meat consumers such as occupation, age, and marital status, were significantly (p < 0.05) associated with food safety knowledge. Meat consumers with higher age categories and educational levels were more likely to have good food safety knowledge than those of the 15-18 years age category and primary educational level, respectively. Respondents with higher levels of education were more likely to demonstrate satisfactory food safety practices than those of primary education status, while males (OR = 1.34; 95% CI: 1.02, 1.76; p = 0.043) were significantly more likely to report satisfactory food safety practices. In conclusion, this study emphasized the need for an improvement in consumers' food safety practices.

Keywords: Consumption; Food safety; Knowledge; Meat; Nigeria; Practices.