The food safety Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) of home- based food handlers in Terengganu / Khaliesah Farhani Taufik Hafiran and Nor Afrina Ahmad Nor Hadidi

There are severe cases of foodbome illness coming from food made by home-based food handlers. This issue has alarmed the consumers about the risks exposed. This study aims to determine the level of Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (‘KAP’) by home-based food handlers in preparing and handling the food. A cluster sampling method has been implemented to collect data from 53 respondents in determining the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (‘KAP’) of home-based food handlers in Terengganu using the online Google form questionnaire. The results were illustrated using descriptive statistics for frequency, percentage, median and percentile. The scores were computed by dividing the data into low, moderate and high through a median and percentile. The findings of this study show that the home-based food handlers have poor knowledge scores (39.6%), good attitude scores (92.5%), and low scores (37.7%) in terms of practice regarding food safety and hygiene. Furthermore, the authorities should regulate the home-based food handlers by requiring them to register their business to conduct a food handling course by district or periodically to spread KAP awareness. Home-based food handlers can pose a high risk of foodbome illness to the consumers. Awareness and continuous training regarding food safety and hygiene need to be given to the home-based food handlers to improve the level of KAP and ensure the quality of the food products.