Journal of Food: Microbiologia, Segurança e Higiene
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Abstrato

Awareness and Knowledge about Food Spoilage and Principles of Food Preservation among Saudi Women in Jeddah

Amal Bakr Shori*

Food spoilage can be defined as any sensory change of the food which becomes harmful to consumers and unsuitable to eat. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to discover the degree of awareness and understanding about food spoilage and preservation among Saudi women in Jeddah. Questionnaires were developed and distributed among female students (n=110) in King Abdul-Aziz University. The data were used to conduct frequency analysis. The results demonstrated that 84.6% (1.8 ± 1.0) of respondents agreed that foods spoiled by the action of microorganisms in soil, air, and water. In addition, over 90% of respondents have shown agreement on the effect of temperature on the foods spoilage, food poisoning occurs when consuming foods contaminated with bacteria or viruses and food drying is a method of food preservation. In addition, above 50% of the respondents have knowledge about eggs preservation and the practices when seeing mold on both hard and soft fruits and vegetables. Additionally, respondents have agreed (~50%) that meat should be stored from 3-5 days in the fridge. Respondents of 81.3% have agreed that dry grain stored at cool temperatures can safely increase the shelf-life. Overall, there was a high ratio of awareness among the Saudi women about the food spoilage and preservation.