Tareq Osaili, Reyad Shaker Obaid, Sadi Taha, Sofia Kayyaal, Rima Ali, Manal Osama, Refaa Alajmi, Anas A. Al-Nabulsi, Amin Olaimat, Fayeza Hasan and Mutamed Ayyash
The aims of this study were to assess the food safety knowledge amongst domestic workers in the UAE and test the association between their socio-demographic characteristics and…
Abstract
Purpose
The aims of this study were to assess the food safety knowledge amongst domestic workers in the UAE and test the association between their socio-demographic characteristics and food safety knowledge.
Design/methodology/approach
A non-probabilistic sample of 231 domestic workers who help families in food preparation and/or cooking participated in this cross-sectional study. The participants completed a questionnaire composed of socio-demographic characteristics and four different aspects of food safety knowledge (personal hygiene, food poisoning, cross-contamination and temperature control).
Findings
It was observed that the domestic workers had inadequate knowledge about food safety with an overall food safety knowledge score of 32.9%. Total knowledge of “personal hygiene” and “cross-contamination” was relatively higher (46.2 and 43.9%, respectively) than that of “food poisoning” (18.1%) and “temperature control” (23.3%). A significant (P-value < 0.05) association was observed between overall food safety knowledge and marital status, age and education level, but not nationality of domestic workers (Asian or African).
Originality/value
The findings of this study are expected to encourage policy makers mandate food safety trainings for this segment of the population besides helping them in creating awareness and training programs regarding food safety.
Details
Keywords
Cathy Downs and LuAnne Ktiri-Idrissi
Emotional and interpretive responses to three short stories were noted in two study populations of similar age: Qatari students in a post-highschool foundation program preparing…
Abstract
Emotional and interpretive responses to three short stories were noted in two study populations of similar age: Qatari students in a post-highschool foundation program preparing to attend branch campuses of western universities located in Qatar, and American students, many of Mexican-American heritage, from a small college in a rural setting in South Texas. It has long been thought that reading literature from a foreign culture confers educational value on the reader; in this investigation the nature of that ‘value’ was placed under study. Written responses to quiz questions or assignments were used as data; responses critical of or affirming of character, setting, plot, and literary tropes were particularly noted. Our data show that readings from an author whose culture was similar to the reader’s created interest and urged both intellectual and affective types of understanding, such as remembering, grieving, healing, forgiving, and feeling pride. Readings from ‘classic’ literature presented in historical context strongly enabled critical discussion among students in a multicultural setting, since the author’s absence from the scene ‘allows’ free conversation about his or her work without fear of insulting the author’s culture. Readings by contemporary writers from outside the reader’s culture, or ‘multicultural literature’, may cause some readers to shy away from the challenge of understanding another culture or to voice stereotypes instead of seeking ideas. Readings from outsider cultures, however, and the affective distancing of ‘othering’, enable the well-prepared educator and student to discuss how culture patterns our lives.