AWARENESS AND ATTITUDES OF FOOD SAFETY KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES

OF CONSUMERS – A STUDY WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO TAMIL NADU

STATE

1. Gender
• Male • Female

2. Marital Status
• Married • Unmarried

3. Age (in years)

• Below 25 • 25-30 • 31-36 • 37-42 • 43-47 • Above 47

4. Level of Education
• Illiterate • School level • College level

5. Occupation
• Housewife • Employed • Daily Wages • Unemployed

6. Monthly Income

• Below Rs. 5000 • Rs.5001- Rs.15000 • Rs.15,001-Rs.25,000 •Above Rs.25000

7. House Hold Size

• Up to 2 • 3-5 • Above 5

8. Type of Family
• Joint • Nuclear

9. Type of House
• Hut • Tiled • Terraced

10. Source of cooking water?

• Pond • Well • Tap • Filter/Mineral water

11. Are you aware of food borne diseases?

• Yes (Awareness of food borne diseases)

• No (Unawareness of food borne diseases)

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12. Source of awareness of safe food?
• Parents • Press • Television • Doctors • Friends / Relatives

13. When is the food unsafe?

• Storage in shop • Storage at Home • Before Preparation

• After Preparation • While cooking • While Serving

14. Confidence level of food safety

Highly No Highly no
Sources Confident
Confident Neutral
Confident Confident
Mineral Water

Fruits & Vegetables

Milk & Milk Products

Vegetarian Food

Non Vegetarian Food

Fresh food items in cooking

High priced product is more safe

15. Do you have awareness in checking quality marks?

• Awareness • Unawareness
16. Checking of quality marks before purchasing the product:
Always Often Sometimes Occasionally Never
AGMARK
ISI
FPO

17. Are you aware of food adulteration?

• Yes (Awareness) • No (Unawareness)
18. What type of food adulteration do you come across?
• Chemical • Physical • Biological

19. Have you taken any steps to complain about food adulteration?
• Yes • No

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20. If ‘Yes’, Have you ever complain about adulteration to the following persons?
Always Often Sometimes Occasionally Never
Shop keeper
Manufacturer
Government officials

21. If No, give reasons:

Strongly No Dis Strongly
Agree
Agree opinion Agree Disagree
Accept as a common practice
Complaints ignored by traders
Time constraint
Laziness
Money constraint
No interest
Do not know to whom to complain

22. Periodicity of consumption of half cooked food?

• Regularly • Often • Sometimes • Occasionally • Never

23. Do you clean the equipments used for cutting before and after every use?
• Regularly • Often • Sometimes • Occasionally • Never

24. Hand washing practices:

Washing of hands Always Often Sometimes Occasionally Never

Before cooking without soap

After cooking without soap
Before cooking with soap
After cooking with soap
Before consuming without soap
After consuming without soap
Before consuming with soap
After consuming with soap
After using toilet with soap
After using toilet without soap

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25. Reasons for food borne diseases:
Reasons Always Often Sometimes Occasionally Never

Purchasing contaminated food materials

Practicing bad personal hygiene

Cooking food at improper temperature

Unsafe drinking water

26. Impact of unsafe food?

• Vomiting • Fever • Diarrhoea • Unsettled stomach

27. How do you identify the edibility of the leftover food?

• Seeing • Tasting • Smelling

28. Statement of personal hygiene:

Strongly No Dis Strongly
Activities Agree
Agree
opinion Agree Disagree
Do not handle pets while preparing food
Using bare hands to serve food
Burns leads to food borne diseases while
cooking

29. Time duration for washing hands

• 1- 5 seconds • 6- 10 seconds •11- 15 seconds • 16- 20 seconds
30. Do you have refrigerator?
• Yes • No
31. What is the correct temperature of the refrigerator?
• 410 F (50 C) • I don’t know

32. The temperature of the refrigerator at home is:

• 500 F (100C) • 410 F (50 C) • I don’t know

33. How long milk usually stored in the refrigerator?

Less than 1 day • 2 to 3 days • 4 to 5 days • More than 5 days •

34. When do you store the food items in the refrigerator after purchase?
• Immediately • Within 2 Hrs • After 2 Hrs

35. What do you do with the leftover food?

• Refrigerate • Heat and reuse • Throw out

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36. Food handling practices
Always Often Sometimes Occasionally Never
Practices
Preparing food during sickness
Wash hands with soap after
handling meat/fish
Fresh vegetables in cooking
Wash vegetables before cooking

37. Hygienic practices in food preparation

Always Often Sometimes Occasionally Never
Practices
Clean the kitchen before preparing food
Wash utensils before using
Dry hands with paper towel/cloth
Clean the kitchen surface after every
use

38. Food safety awareness

Strongly No Dis Strongly
Food safety awareness Agree
Agree
opinion Agree Disagree
Sterilize food before eating
Feeding pet animals in kitchen leads to
unsafe food
Unsafe food is identified by appearance
and smell
Checking of expiry date
Dishcloths carry unsafe bacteria
All bacteria are harmful

39. Food borne diseases and food safety

Always Often Sometimes Occasionally Never
Practices
Food borne diseases arise mainly at
home
Visiting the doctor for food borne
diseases
Change the food handling practices
Using existing food safety knowledge
Safety of food can be checked by taste

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