Knowledge, attitude and practice of Taif University students on food poisoning

The aim of this study is to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) on food poisoning of Taif University students, Saudi Arabia. A cluster random sampling technique stratified by three major discipline groups was used: "Male and health", "Male and humanities" and "Female and humanities". A total of 1020 were responded to a structured questionnaire, 340 from each group. Results showed over 50% of the students lack the knowledge that raw eggs and raw white cheese have high risk for food poisoning. Also over 50% have negative attitude and they believe there is no risk from eating raw egg or drinking raw milk of she camel. The response to practice questionnaires indicates good hygienic practice except that 76% of the students eat by hand rice and soup meal from one bowl shared by several persons. There was a significant difference (p < 0.05) between the mean score of knowledge, attitude and practice according to discipline and sex. The overall KAP mean score was 74.78%. However, the mean score for KAP components were 74.95%, 67.26% and 80.29% for knowledge, attitude and practice, respectively. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.