Food Control 18 (2007) 707–712 www.elsevier.com/locate/foodcont 0956-7135/$ - see front matter  2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.foodcont.2006.03.005 Food handling: Comparative analysis of general knowledge and practice in three relevant groups in Portugal Eduarda Gomes-Neves a,b,¤ , Ana Cristina Araújo a , Elisabete Ramos c , Carla SoWa Cardoso d a Molecular Pathology and Immunology, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS), University of Porto, Largo Prof. Abel Salazar 2, 4050-011 Porto, Portugal b Direcção Regional de Agricultura de Entre Douro e Minho (DRADEM), Ministério de Agricultura, Rua Dr. Francisco Duarte, 355 1° 4710-093 Braga, Portugal c Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Porto Medical School, University of Porto, Alameda Professor Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal d Iron genes and Immune System group (IRIS), Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology (IBMC), University of Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 823 4150-180 Porto, Portugal Received 25 January 2006; received in revised form 15 March 2006; accepted 20 March 2006 Abstract A self-administered questionnaire designed to assess “Knowledge” and “Practice” of public hygiene measures was tested in a group of food handlers (n D 79) and two groups of undergraduate students (n D 152). Students were poorly acquainted with practical aspects, relat- ing speciWcally to temperature control and food storage requirements. A signiWcant proportion of food handlers lacked basic knowledge and understanding of microbiological hazards, hygiene and safety rules. The mean food safety “Knowledge” score among food handlers was 55.0 § 18 and the mean “Practice” score was 69.0 § 17. The results point to the need to improve training and increasing awareness of the measures imposed by food safety laws in Europe.  2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Hygiene; Food handlers; Undergraduate students; Knowledge; Practice; Portugal 1. Introduction A high level of public health protection is one of the fun- damental objectives of EC food law. The demand of appli- cation of HACCP (hazard analysis and critical control points) principles introduced by the Codex Alimentarius 30 years ago became law in Portugal in 1998 (Diário da Rep- ública, 1998). Regulation (EC) No 852/04 underlining the need of all the food businesses to identify the steps of the production process in order to secure food safety has been implemented in 2006. Regulation No 178/2002 created the European Food Safety Authority and deWned the general principles and requirements of food law laying down proce- dures in matters of food safety. According to the latter, food must not enter the market if it does not meet the established safety standards. FoodstuV safety, however, is ensured mainly by preventive measures, such as implemen- tation of good hygiene practice and application of proce- dures based on HACCP principles and other hygiene control measures (Sun & Ockerman, 2005). Moreover, the impending EC legislation will require documented HACCP in all food businesses from 2006 (Taylor & Kane, 2005). The measures to be taken by the food business operators in order to ensure compliance with the established criteria include, among other things, control of raw materials, hygiene, temperature and shelf-life of the products. A successful implementation of the law recognizes edu- cation of food handlers as a crucial line of defence in the * Corresponding author. Address: Molecular Pathology and Immunol- ogy, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS), University of Porto, Largo Prof. Abel Salazar 2, 4050-011 Porto, Portugal. Tel.: +351 22 2062200; fax: +351 22 2062232. E-mail address: egomesneves@mail.icav.up.pt (E. Gomes-Neves).