Food handling practice in public caterings in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

The hygienic conditions of public catering establishments have never been addressed systematically in Addis Ababa. This cross-sectional survey was conducted on randomly selected public catering established in Addis Ababa. The majority (95.2%) of these establishments were privately owned, and about a third gf them had no license. About 50% of establishments had multi-use utensils maintained in good condition without major break or rust. However, only about 5% of them follow title standard sanitary methods for cleaning utensils. Reported sources of food stuffs, storage places and temperature regulation of refrigerators were not generally safe to keep food in hygienic condition. Personal hygiene and the use of protective outer garment fry food handlers were not practiced in many of the establishments. Licensed establishments were observed to have relatively better hygienic standards compared to the unlicensed establishments. A multisectoral and coordinated action is necessary to improve the hygienic standards of the catering establishments in Addis Ababa. Besides enforcing the existing laws relevant to the sector, a consolidated effort should continue to enhance the awareness of the persons involved in public catering about hygiene and to provide them an affordable access to medical services.