Aslı Uçar

Turkish academic staffs' perception of organic foods

Purpose – This study was planned and carried out among the academic staff working in Ankara (Turkey) in order to determine their perception of organic foods.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 240 academicians from three institutes at the Ankara University were selected to participate in the research. Data were collected through a survey questionnaire, in which a Likert type scale was used to determine the perception of organic foods. The institutes where the academic staff work are considered as the variables in the study (science, health sciences, and social sciences).Findings – The research results indicated that there was a significant correlation between the institutes and academicians agreement with 12 statements in the survey questionnaire. Considering the institute variable, no significant difference was found in the organic foods perceptions of individuals from different institutes.Originality/value – Organic products are widely on the market today. Consumer demand for organic foods has been...

Attitudes of women towards food safety

Purpose – This paper seeks to determine the attitudes of women, who are mainly in charge of preparing food at home, towards food safety.Design/methodology/approach – The research was carried out among 250 married women who were chosen from those enrolled in five Public Education Centers affiliated to the Ministry of Education. The research data were collected through a questionnaire and face‐to‐face interviews.Findings – The mean food safety attitude score was determined to be 29.97+2.91. The food safety attitudes of women varied according to education and age. Therefore, it is important that food safety education provided is continuous in order for the effects of the education to be lasting.Originality/value – Food safety requires correct handling from production through consumption. Poor food‐handling practices in the home kitchen are thought to cause a significant number of food borne illnesses. The paper highlights the importance of education that affects food safety practices in the home.

Individuals’ Knowledge and Practices of the Cold Chain

This study aims to identify the influence of education on the practices and knowledge of consumers to protect or maintain the cold chain in the Turkish capital of Ankara. Data were gathered by using a questionnaire. Participants were 700 randomly selected volunteering adults. The majority of the participants had a university degree (69.0%) and did not know the definition of cold chain but had some knowledge about it, and differences existed between primary school and university graduates. The scores of consumers’ attitudes to maintain cold chain were determined to increase in parallel with education level. The rate of people knowing refrigerator temperature, the coldest part of refrigerator, and controlling whether shops correctly store the products was highest in university graduates. Adults were observed to believe that shop assistants were responsible for maintaining a cold chain. However, the actual importance of consumers in this process reveals the importance of education for individuals.

Food Safety – Problems and Solutions

When certain disease-causing bacteria, viruses or parasite contaminate food, they can cause food-related diseases. Another word for such a bacterium, virus, or parasite is “pathogen”. Since food-related diseases can be serious, or even fatal, it is important to know and practice safe food-handling behaviors to help reduce the risk of getting sick from contaminated food. According to the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), “food safety is the assurance that food will not cause harm to the consumer when it is prepared and/or eaten according to its intended use”. Foodborne diseases are widespread throughout the world. The process by which a foodborne disease spreads begins with the features of the disease, contaminating the food, which in turn threatens both individual and public health by means of the foods. Healthy, or what can be termed as safe food, is food that has not lost its nutritional value, that is clean, in physical, chemical and micro‐ biological terms and that is not stale. The factors causing the contamination of the food may threaten the safe consumption of it and thereby make the foods harmful to human health. For this reason, it is necessary to utilize various resources to prevent the food from being contaminated in all stages of the food chain, from harvest to consumption. The aim of this chapter is to determine the factors affecting food safety and proffer effec‐ tive intervention strategies against food-related diseases.

Consumer Attitudes toward Food Consumption and Purchase in Turkey

This study was conducted in the Ankara Province of Turkey to determine the attitudes of adult consumers toward food consumption and purchasing activities. The data were collected by conducting face-to-face interviews with 700 adults working in ministries (government office) to fill in a questionnaire prepared especially for this purpose. The responses to the questionnaire were evaluated by assigning points for the “food-consumption-and-purchasing attitudes” of each respondent based on their replies. These food-consumption-and-purchasing attitude points have been then analyzed in terms of the gender, age, and educational level of the adults involved. The results showed that women, the 30–39 age group, and university graduates have a higher score of food-consumption-and-purchasing attitude points than do men, the age group comprising respondents < 30 and ≥ 40 years of age, and those with lower education levels, respectively. A statistically significantly relation was observed between food-consumption-and-purchasing attitude points and age.

A research on the genotoxicity of stevia in human lymphocytes

Abstract Stevia extracts are obtained from Stevia rebaudiana commonly used as natural sweeteners. It is ∼250–300 times sweeter than sucrose. Common use of stevia prompted us to investigate its genotoxicity in human peripheral blood lymphocytes. Stevia (active ingredient steviol glycoside) was dissolved in pure water. Dose selection was done using ADI (acceptable daily intake) value. Negative control (pure water), 1, 2, 4, 8 and 16 μg/ml concentrations which were equivalent to ADI/4, ADI/2, ADI, ADI × 2 and ADI × 4 of Stevia were added to whole-blood culture. Two repetitive experiments were conducted. Our results showed that there was no significant difference in the induction of chromosomal aberrations and micronuclei between the groups treated with the concentrations of Stevia and the negative control at 24 and 48 h treatment periods. The data showed that stevia (active ingredient steviol glycosides) has no genotoxic activity in both test systems. Our results clearly supports previous findings.

Genetic alterations and nutritional habits among fast-food employees

Fast food sector is growing due to changing lifestyles. This model is very popular in all over the world and it comes with the idea to evaluate certain health aspects in terms of employee health and safety which became more of an issue recently. Nutritional habits, physical activity levels and possible genetic changes related to nutrition among the fast-food employees were evaluated in this work. 24 hour food and physical activity level records were used to determine nutritional habits and physical activity levels of employees (n=26) and controls (n=19). Exfoliated buccal cells were used to determine genetic change level related to nutrition habit. It was found that the two groups’ energy intake was lower than the recommendation levels. But experimental groups’ activity level was too high. A significant increased incidence of changes between the controls and subjects were observed (P<0.05); a non-significant increase in females and a significant increase in males were also observed. Smoking habit did not significantly affect the genetic changes in both genders. Based on our results, the nutrition habit of the experimental group most probably affected their genome health. However further detailed work should be conducted to arrive at definite conclusion.

Presence of Enterobius vermicularis infections and food hygiene knowledge levels among catering industry personnel

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the presence of Enterobius vermicularis in workers in hospital kitchens in Ankara, Turkey and the levels of their food hygiene knowledge. Design/methodology/approach – The study included 270 employees of six catering companies that cater to hospitals in Ankara who agreed to participate in the study. Two-part questionnaires were used. The first part solicited demographic information, and the second part’s questions determined the workers’ personal hygiene knowledge. Samples taken from the participants to determine the presence of Enterobius vermicularis were collected using the cellophane application method. Findings – The parasite was found in 78.1 percent of the personnel. The average hygiene knowledge scores were 58.94+18.1 on a 100-point scale. The changes introduced by the new “Food Hygiene Regulation” should be implemented without abolishing the food handler (FH) examination. Originality/value – Food safety is an important issue that can affect lots...