Abstract The purpose of this study was to evaluate intervention strategies for the reduction of microbiological contamination on the hands of food handlers. The study was conducted from January 2009 to December 2014 at a food and nutrition company in Curitiba, Brazil. Samples from the hands of 877 handlers were collected for microbiological analysis. The intervention strategies applied during each year were: 2009, substitute the use of odorless liquid soap and an antiseptic product by one product; 2010, was increasing the staff of technical supervisors and conducting biannual training; 2011 was to move the lavatories for handwashing, and the use of 70% alcohol gel; 2012, was to increase the frequency of the training of food handlers; 2013, was new weekly monitoring, to evaluation of the use of bactericide soap; 2013 and 2014 was implemented an internal program to verify food production. The intervention introduced in 2011 the 2012 and 2013 the 2014 reduced the contamination of the hands of food handlers. The use of 70% alcohol gel, the moving of the location of the lavatories, weekly monitoring of the use of bactericide soap and implementation of the internal program, were the strategies that contributed the most to the reduction of the microbial.

Abstract The objective of this study was to evaluate the hygienic-sanitary conditions of hospital nutrition services according to internal and external auditors, before and after intervention, based on the requirements of Good Hygiene Practices. Fifteen hospital nutrition services were evaluated based on a checklist applied by internal auditors and by an external auditor. The intervention program was prepared and implemented in all the locations over one year, and was composed of four points: 1) training; 2) preparation of the action plan; 3) preparation of the documentation; 4) monthly visits to motivate the food handlers and responsible technicians, accompaniment and assistance in the implementation of Good Hygiene Practices. An improvment in the application of Good Hygiene Practices was observed in the hospital nutrition services after the systematic intervention, in the view of both the internal and external auditors, except the requirement related to operational aspects, which had a low percentage of adequacy, both before and after the intervention Before the intervention, there was a significant difference between the evaluation of the internal auditors and the external auditor, which was not found later. These results suggest that the systematic intervention assisted in the adoption of Good Hygiene Practices by hospital nutrition services, according to both the internal and external auditors, and contributed to increasing the knowledge of the internal auditors.

O objetivo deste artigo é identificar o perfil dos manipuladores de alimentos nos domicílios da cidade de Santa Maria (RS). Foi determinada uma amostra de 15 domicílios por bairro através da divisão geográfica da cidade, totalizando 615 residências. Para a realização do diagnóstico do perfil dos manipuladores nos domicílios, elaborou-se um formulário sobre os dados pessoais com 6 questões abertas e 13 fechadas incluindo o gênero, estado civil, escolaridade, profissão e renda mensal, bem como questões como a frequência do preparo das refeições nos domicílios, satisfação em prepará-las, participação em cursos e percepção deles sobre a segurança dos alimentos. Verificou-se que 92,5% dos manipuladores eram do sexo feminino, 52,2% possuíam nível de escolaridade fundamental completo ou incompleto, e 35,4% com rendimento mensal familiar de 3 a 9 salários mínimos. Dos entrevistados, 82,6% informaram que preparam as refeições todos os dias da semana e 77,9% relataram que nunca enfrentaram problemas ocasionados por alimentos produzidos em casa. É importante identificar o perfil dos manipuladores de alimentos nos domicílios para desenvolver estratégias para prevenir ou diminuir as doenças transmitidas pelos alimentos.

This article seeks to diagnose the profile of food handlers in the households of the city of Santa Maria in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. By geographical division of the city, a sample of 15 households per neighborhood was chosen, totaling 615 households. For the diagnosis of the profile of handlers in the households, a questionnaire was prepared, containing 6 open questions and 13 closed questions related to personal data including gender, marital status, education, occupation and monthly income. Issues such as the frequency with which people prepare meals in the households and satisfaction in preparing them, as well as participation in courses and the perception of food safety, were also addressed. It was found that 92.5% of the food handlers were female, 52.2% had complete or incomplete primary school and 35.4% had a monthly income of between 3 and 9 minimum wages. Among those interviewed, 82.6% reported that they prepare meals every day of the week and 77.9% reported that they never had problems caused by the food produced at home. It is important to evaluate the profile of food handlers in the households, as this makes it possible to develop strategies to prevent or diminish foodborne diseases.

O objetivo deste artigo é identificar o perfil dos manipuladores de alimentos nos domicílios da cidade de Santa Maria (RS). Foi determinada uma amostra de 15 domicílios por bairro através da divisão geográfica da cidade, totalizando 615 residências. Para a realização do diagnóstico do perfil dos manipuladores nos domicílios, elaborou-se um formulário sobre os dados pessoais com 6 questões abertas e 13 fechadas incluindo o gênero, estado civil, escolaridade, profissão e renda mensal, bem como questões como a frequência do preparo das refeições nos domicílios, satisfação em prepará-las, participação em cursos e percepção deles sobre a segurança dos alimentos. Verificou-se que 92,5% dos manipuladores eram do sexo feminino, 52,2% possuíam nível de escolaridade fundamental completo ou incompleto, e 35,4% com rendimento mensal familiar de 3 a 9 salários mínimos. Dos entrevistados, 82,6% informaram que preparam as refeições todos os dias da semana e 77,9% relataram que nunca enfrentaram problemas ocasionados por alimentos produzidos em casa. É importante identificar o perfil dos manipuladores de alimentos nos domicílios para desenvolver estratégias para prevenir ou diminuir as doenças transmitidas pelos alimentos.

This article seeks to diagnose the profile of food handlers in the households of the city of Santa Maria in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. By geographical division of the city, a sample of 15 households per neighborhood was chosen, totaling 615 households. For the diagnosis of the profile of handlers in the households, a questionnaire was prepared, containing 6 open questions and 13 closed questions related to personal data including gender, marital status, education, occupation and monthly income. Issues such as the frequency with which people prepare meals in the households and satisfaction in preparing them, as well as participation in courses and the perception of food safety, were also addressed. It was found that 92.5% of the food handlers were female, 52.2% had complete or incomplete primary school and 35.4% had a monthly income of between 3 and 9 minimum wages. Among those interviewed, 82.6% reported that they prepare meals every day of the week and 77.9% reported that they never had problems caused by the food produced at home. It is important to evaluate the profile of food handlers in the households, as this makes it possible to develop strategies to prevent or diminish foodborne diseases.

The objective of this study was to verify the compliance of the supermarket sector with respect to the Good Practice Program standards of the city of Santa Maria (RS), Brazil. Sixty nine establishments were verified using a checklist of good practices for the supermarket sector in Santa Maria, RS (Brazil), from April to July 2011. The data were collected by a food safety and quality professional using this checklist. The results showed that the overall adequacy of the establishments surveyed was 29.07%. The highest percentage of compliance was found for storage at ambient temperature (64.13%). The lowest compliance percentage was also found in different sections and areas in the supermarkets such as bakery and confectionery (14.93%), water supply (18.30%), food handling (21.01%), sausage and cold meat (or deli meat) (36.38%), and documentation-related items (4.97%). None of the supermarkets evaluated had the necessary documentation for the implementation of good practices. The results of this study show the importance of effectively implementing a good practice program and quality systems by raising awareness among technicians and professionals of the importance of quality programs used in food companies and the need for more thorough inspection delivered by competent authorities to ensure food safety for consumers.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the hygienic-sanitary conditions of hospital nutrition and dietary services using external and internal auditors. Eleven hospitals were evaluated for their nutrition and dietary services using an evaluation checklist based on food safety requirements in the current legislation. The checklist was applied by an internal auditor (a technical supervisor) and an external auditor (a professional with experience in food services) between August and October 2011. According to the number of items on the evaluation checklist that were considered adequate, the hospital facilities were ranked as excellent, good, regular, bad, or very bad. The results obtained by the auditors were compared. According to these results, it can be said that most of the hospital nutrition and dietary services were rated as good for overall quality by the internal auditor, while the external auditor classified them as Regular. There was a clear difference between the evaluations of the auditors, both in terms of the number of items considered adequate and the overall requirements' average score. It can be concluded that hospital nutrition and dietary services should meet safety requirements in order to provide food. These facilities should have external audits conducted as a way to prevent routine problems from being perpetuated.

Este estudo teve como objetivo avaliar a atitude dos consumidores em relação às informações alimentares para preparações prontas em um restaurante comercial. Esta pesquisa foi realizada de janeiro a abril de 2009, em um restaurante em Santa Maria (RS), Brasil. Foram desenvolvidas informações de alimentos com o nome da preparação, ingredientes, benefícios para a saúde e alertas e valor calórico. Depois de fornecer essas informações nutricionais, um questionário foi aplicado aos 300 consumidores no restaurante para observar as atitudes dos consumidores relativamente à informação de alimentos. Verificou-se que 10,57% dos participantes relataram apresentar alergia ou intolerância a algum tipo de alimento e que 10,98% dos participantes possuíam doença, sendo necessária a restrição de moderação e/ou total desses alimentos. No entanto, 84,96% dos participantes não deixaram de consumir algum alimento, mesmo que esses possam ter representado um risco para sua saúde, e 58,54% dos participantes consumiram algum alimento porque observaram benefícios potenciais para a sua saúde. Ao avaliar o nível de satisfação dos participantes sobre as informações de alimentos, 72,76% consideraram as informações muito boas. Os participantes tenderam a mudar seu consumo depois de ter acesso a informações alimentares dos alimentos preparados.

This study aimed to evaluate the attitude of consumers towards information about dishes in a commercial restaurant. This research was conducted from January to April 2009 in a restaurant in the city of Santa Maria (RS), Brazil. Food information including the name of the dish, ingredients, health benefits and warnings, and calorie value was displayed. After providing this nutritional information, a questionnaire was applied to 300 consumers at the restaurant to observe their attitudes towards the food information. It was found that 10.57% of the respondents reported allergy or intolerance to some kinds of food and that 10.98% of the respondents reported having diseases that require moderate consumption and/or total restriction on the consumption of those foods. However, 84.96% of the respondents did not restrict consumption of any food, even though those foods may have posed a risk to their health, and 58.54% of the respondents consumed some food due to the potential benefits to their health. With regard to the respondents' level of satisfaction concerning the food information provided, 72.76% considered the information provided as very good. The respondents had a tendency to change their behavior towards consumption after having access to information about the dishes displayed.

O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar as condições higiênicas de serviços de alimentação de acordo com a Normativa Brasileira NBR 15635:2008. Foram avaliados 23 serviços de alimentação do município de Santa Maria-RS durante os meses de julho e agosto de 2011. Como critérios de inclusão da pesquisa, foram utilizados os serviços de alimentação comerciais do bairro Centro da cidade de Santa Maria-RS registrados na Vigilância Sanitária e que apresentaram os alvarás sanitários 2009 e 2010 atualizados. O instrumento de coleta de dados foi uma lista de verificação em boas práticas elaborada a partir da Normativa Brasileira para serviços de alimentação. Os resultados demonstraram que somente 4% (n = 1) dos serviços de alimentação avaliados foram classificados no grupo I (Bom), sendo que 70% (n = 16) foram classificados no grupo II (Regular) e 26% (n = 6) foram classificados no grupo III (Deficiente). Pode-se concluir que a maioria dos estabelecimentos avaliados de acordo com a normativa utilizada encontra-se classificada nos grupos regular e ruim, não atendendo, assim, aos requisitos da Normativa.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the hygienic conditions of food service in accordance to the Brazilian Normative NBR 15635:2008. We evaluated 23 food services in the city of Santa Maria (RS) during the months of July and August in the year of 2011. As an inclusion criteria of the research, the food service business from the district of Santa Maria (RS) registered in the Surveillance of health that have the license in 2009 and updated in 2010 were used. The data collection instrument was a checklist in the good practices drawn from the Brazilian Normative for foodservices. The results showed that only 4% (n = 1) from the food services were evaluated in group I (good), 70% (n = 16) were classified in Group II (Regular) and 26% (n = 6) were classified in Group III (Bad). It can be concluded that the majority of the evaluated establishments according to used the rules are classified in the group regularly and bad, thus not attending to the requirements of the Normative.