2.1. Characteristics of food handlers
This survey was conducted during the period between
JuneeDecember 2014. A total of 377 food handlers from different
food establishments were included in this survey. These workers
were employed by restaurants, take-away and catering establishments.
Restaurants' main activity is to serve complete and varied
menus. Caterings are food establishments that prepare food in a
stationary kitchen and then transport food to different sites. Takeaway
places' main activity is to serve fast food, pastry, soft drinks
and/or juices. Independently owned food establishments were
selected randomly to represent all three types of establishments.
Data was collected by visiting various food establishments in the
three countries, during different shifts to avoid sampling bias.
Managers of food establishments were asked to give interviewers
permission to access the establishments and distribute the questionnaires
to workers/food handlers. In order to answer the questions,
the questionnaire was distributed to staff present at the time
of visit.
The categories of food handlers that participated in this survey is
shown on Table 1. A self-administrative questionnaire was used and
face-to-face interview was performed to ensure the accuracy of the
answers and completeness of the questionnaire. The purpose of the
study and instructions for completing the questionnaire were
initially explained to food handlers by the interviewer.
One author from each country trained and recruited students of
master studies from the three universities to perform interviews.
All students had appropriate food safety knowledge as a result of
their previous studies. In total seven interviewers were used, three
from Portugal, three from Serbia and one from Greece. Questionnaires
were translated from English language to Greek, Portuguese
and Serbian languages.