Food safety in the school context: conceptions of food handlers

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the social representations of food handlers about good hygiene practices in food preparation at school.

Material and Methods: quantitative and qualitative exploratory study conducted in municipal schools in Belo Horizonte-MG. The projective free evocation test of words was applied with the inductive expression “Hygiene in the preparation of meals”. The justifcations for the term listed were found to be the most important and an analysis was made of the discourse of the collective subject (CSD). The Social Representations Theory, structural approach and sociological assumptions were adopted as references.

Results: 274 food handlers from the nine sanitary districts of the municipality participated. In the structural analysis, it was found that “Hygienization” and “Important” were the central representational components; 15 intermediate elements were observed, “Personal hygiene” highlighted; and eight peripherals, “Store”, as the most frequent. Two groups of social representations were identified: 1) operational procedures for good food handling practices; 2) importance of good food handling practices for health promotion.

Conclusion: The elements of the central nucleus and periphery presented positive aspects in relation to the theme studied. The elements identified in the periphery should be the initial target of educational actions, enabling greater effectiveness of good food handling practices in the school environment.