Assessment of Food Safety, Knowledge and Practices among Students and Staff at Zarqa University, Jordan

Ten studies relied solely on self-reporting.

“In contrast, 10 studies relied solely on self-reporting [49,51,53,54,57,58,65,70,71,72].”

Among 10 studies, the proportion of female participants was notably higher than males.

“Among the 10 studies [48,49,53,56,59,62,63,66,68,69] the proportion of female participants was notably higher than the males.”

Seven studies focused on university students, two on school children, four on street food consumers, five on meat consumers, one on vegetable consumers, and one on milk consumers.

“Seven studies focused on university students [49,53,54,58,60,65,72], two studies were on school children [70,71], four studies on street food consumers [57,62,67,68], five studies on meat consumers [50,56,59,64,66], and one study each on vegetable [48] and milk consumers [61].”

Ten studies measured both food safety knowledge and practices.

“Ten studies [47,49,51,53,54,58,64,69,70,72] measured both food safety knowledge and practices, while three studies measured both knowledge and attitudes [63,67,68].”

Among the 16 studies that described sampling methodology, five used simple random sampling, four convenience sampling, two multi-stage random sampling, two voluntary response sampling, two purposive sampling, and one both non-probability and snowball sampling.

“Among these, five studies were conducted with simple random sampling [48,49,54,69,70], four [47,58,59,60] with convenience sampling, two [61,64] with multi-stage random sampling, two [67,68] with voluntary response sampling, two [56,63] purposive sampling, and one [57] with both non-probability and snowball sampling techniques.”

Several studies reported good or satisfactory knowledge levels.

“Several studies reported good or satisfactory knowledge levels [49,50,51,52,57,58,60,63,68], while other studies described knowledge as average or mixed [47,55,61,62,67,71].”

Two studies reported high knowledge levels of food safety among Jordanian university staff (90.6%) and Ethiopian mothers (75.9%).

“Two studies, [49,52], reported high knowledge levels of food safety among Jordanian university staff (90.6%) and Ethiopian mothers (75.9%), respectively.”

75.1% of Jordanian university students and staff reported high-level food safety practice, including consistent hand hygiene, washing of fruits and vegetables, and appropriate cleaning of utensils used for raw meat.

“Of Jordanian university students and staff, 75.1% reported high-level of food safety practice, including consistent hand hygiene, washing of fruits and vegetables, and appropriate cleaning of utensils used for raw meat [49].”

Four studies reported good practices.

“In contrast, one study reported generally satisfactory food safety practices [71], and four studies reported good practices [47,49,58,70].”

Marital status was positively associated with food safety knowledge and practices in Jordan, and with knowledge scores in Vietnam.

“Marital status was positively associated with food safety knowledge and practices in Jordan [49], and with knowledge scores in Vietnam [63].”

Some studies reported significant associations between gender and food safety knowledge and practices.

“Some reported significant associations with food safety knowledge and practices [49,53,54,64,71]”

A significant number of studies revealed that consumers often possessed adequate theoretical knowledge regarding food safety but failed to apply this knowledge in their daily routine.

“a significant number of studies [46,48,49,50,51,55,61] revealed that consumers often possessed adequate theoretical knowledge regarding food safety—such as the need for handwashing or proper storage temperatures—but failed to apply this knowledge in their daily routine.”

Seven studies showed that respondents' knowledge was better than their self-reported practices.

“However, seven studies showed that respondents’ knowledge was better than their self-reported practices [49,51,52,53,54,58,64].”

While some studies reported good or satisfactory levels of knowledge, ten studies found low or poor levels and substantial knowledge or awareness gaps, while six studies showed average or mixed findings.

“While some studies (e.g., [49,51,60]) reported good or satisfactory levels of knowledge, ten studies (e.g., [53,65]) found low or poor levels and substantial knowledge or awareness gaps, while six studies [47,55,61,62,67,71] showed average or mixed findings.”

Age was significantly associated with at least one component of food safety knowledge, attitudes, and practices across diverse populations.

“Age was significantly associated with at least one component of food safety KAP across diverse populations (e.g., [47,49,50,60,68,70]).”

Marital status and employment status also showed significant associations in a few studies.

“Marital status and employment status also showed significant associations in a few studies (e.g., [49,51,63]).”