Hygiene and sanitary conditions in self-service restaurants in Sao Paulo, Brazil

Currently, food safety poses a significant concern due to the apparent difficulty in implementing programs to guarantee and control quality, such as Good Practices. The present study aimed to evaluate the hygienic-sanitary conditions in 31 restaurants in the central district of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The participants provided informed consent to participation in this research, which was conducted from April to October 2010. A Good Practices evaluation was performed, and adherence rates were calculated, both overall and by groups of items. The restaurants participating in the survey received a simple model of the Action Plan to facilitate improvement in cases of non-adherence. The evaluated restaurants were classified as Group 1, with adherence rates ranging between 76 and 100%; the estimated average adherence was 78%. The best adherence rates were found for integrated vector and urban pest control (98%) and water supply (97%) practices. Items related to documentation and registration had the lowest average adherence rates. In general, the restaurants evaluated in this study showed good adherence to Good Practices. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.