Funda Pinar Cakiroglu

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.

Determination of Macronutrient, Liquid, and Nutritional Supplement Consumption in Male Athletes

The present study was conducted to determine macronutrient, liquid, and nutritional supplements intake in male athletes. Forty male athletes living in Ankara and attending to various sport clubs participated in this study. A survey was given to subjects for including questions about sports life, nutrition habits, and liquid consumption. Within the scope of the study, i; a questionnaire containing questions about sporting life, eating habits and liquid consumption, ii; 3-day food consumption record form, iii; 3-day physical activity record form were applied to athletes. Athletes were grouped as strength/power (P) athletes (n=26) and team (T) athletes (n=14). 55,0% of the athletes use nutritional supplements and the most commonly used nutritional supplements are branched chain amino acids (35,0%), whey protein (32,5%) and glutamine (20,0%), respectively. When the food consumption records of the athletes are examined, it was found that both groups of athletes were found to have inadequate energy (P:46,1±17,6 kcal/kg/day, T:41,7±11,1 kcal/kg/day; p>0,05). It was found that athletes consumed low amount of carbohydrate (P:5,0±2,4 g/kg/day, T:5,5±1,7 g/kg/day; p>0,05) and that P athletes consumed high protein while T athletes consumed at recommended levels (2,7±1,3 g/kg/day, 1,5±0,5 g/kg/day; p 0,05). Finally, it can be said that the liquid intake of athletes is at normal levels according to recommended values for adults.

Evaluation of Eating Attitudes of Turkish Adolescents Based on Certain Variables

Abstract This study was conducted on 321 adolescents to investigate the relation between the eating attitude of Turkish adolescents and some variables by using the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26). The cut-off point for the test was 20. Twenty points and more referred to the risk of an eating disorder. According to findings, the mean EAT-26 score of the adolescents was 20.4±0.1. By gender, 45.7 percent of the boys and 48.9 percent of the girls, by age, 52.7 percent of the students at the age of 12-14 and forty-one percent of the students at the age of 15-18 (p<0.05), by BMI, fifty percent of the thinner, forty-four percent of the underweight, 41.3 percent of those with a normal weight, 60.2 percent of overweight and obese had 20 and over in the test. 57.6 percent of the students stated that their parents were obese had 20 and over in the test and so had a risk for eating disorder (p<0.05). The researchers believe that adolescents should be given more knowledge about healthy nutrition and monitoring them by longitudinal research studies will be helpful in preventing eating disorders.

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...

Hygiene Knowledge of Food Staff in Catering Industry: A Sample From Turkey

This study, designed as a cross-sectional study, was carried out to determine the hygiene knowledge of the staff (N = 317) employed in kitchen and service departments of catering firms in Ankara. It was found that the mean scores of the staff with regard to personal hygiene, food hygiene, and kitchen and equipment hygiene were 10.7 ± 1.6, 19.8 ± 4.0, and 13.6 ± 2.0, respectively. Male staff achieved higher mean scores in personal hygiene knowledge test compared with female staff (p < .01). The staff receiving a hygiene training were determined to have higher mean scores in terms of hygiene knowledge tests compared with those who have not received, and the production staff had higher knowledge as to hygiene than the other groups (p < .01). The mean scores for hygiene knowledge tests were found to be increasing with age. Hygiene knowledge scores of the staff were quite lower than what must be taken. For that reason, periodical training programs should be organized to increase the awareness of the staff about hygiene.