Food Safety Practices among Postnatal Mothers in Western Ghana

Food safety has become a global issue due to the morbidity and mortality associated with it, particularly in developing countries. The objective of this community-based study is to examine food safety practices and its associated factors among postnatal mothers in the Western Region of Ghana. A cross-sectional survey study was conducted from August 1 2019 to January 31, 2020 from which data was obtained from the postnatal mothers ( <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1"> <a:mi>N</a:mi> <a:mo>=</a:mo> <a:mn>300</a:mn> </a:math> ). The data was analysed using SPSS v.23. The findings suggest that majority (86%) of the respondents exhibited good food handling practices. Also, 66.3% and 91.7% of the respondents exhibited good food preparation and proper storage practices, respectively. Results also revealed that the odds of performing good handling practice among respondents within the age group of 36-45 years were five times higher compared to those within the age group of 18-25 years [ <c:math xmlns:c="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M2"> <c:mtext>OR</c:mtext> <c:mo>=</c:mo> <c:mn>4.92</c:mn> </c:math> (95% CI: 1.44–16.86), <e:math xmlns:e="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M3"> <e:mi>p</e:mi> <e:mo>=</e:mo> <e:mn>0.011</e:mn> </e:math> ]. Moreover, respondents who had tertiary education qualifications were more likely to have proper food handling practices compared to those with primary education [ <g:math xmlns:g="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M4"> <g:mtext>OR</g:mtext> <g:mo>=</g:mo> <g:mn>0.27</g:mn> </g:math> (95% CI: 0.09–0.71), <i:math xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M5"> <i:mi>p</i:mi> <i:mo>=</i:mo> <i:mn>0.009</i:mn> </i:math> ]. These findings provide useful insights for policy directions. The government of Ghana and other stakeholders should develop a communication strategy to increase and sustain publicity and education on food safety particularly to postnatal mothers and the citizenry in general.