Introduction: In this day and age, foodborne outbreaks present a big problem for the public health, since they are often an important reason for higher illness rates and mortality. High degrees of risk present: unclean environment where foods are produced, bad personal hygiene of people that operate with foods, insufficient knowledge about food hygiene, unsuitable food storage and preparation, unsuitable processing time or processing temperature and, lastly, cross contamination. It is also important to emphasize the role of food business operator – they are the ones that need to provide regular training and education for employees and care for suitable hygiene and technical conditions in order to minimize chances for foodborne outbreaks. Purpose: Rating the hygiene and technical conditions of chosen food establishments by criteria that were defined before and with swab tests of working surfaces and workers´ hands. Testing the knowledge of food handlers that work in food establishments and catering business (more specifically hygiene sections). Methods: Observation of the work process in chosen food establishments was performed with the help of an observation list and by following hygiene/technical criteria. Testing of the employees’ knowledge about the hygiene of foods was executed with the help of a validated survey questionnaire. 10 swab test were also taken from working surfaces and food handlers hands in every chosen food establishment. Results: The hygiene/technical condition of catering businesses was, with the exception of food handlers hands, mostly in accordance with demands. In addition to sufficient personal hygiene, employees also lack knowledge in the field of food safety and kitchen hygiene. More than half of the swab tests came out as unclean with cutting boards, meat slicers and counters being most critical. Discussion and conclusion: Food handlers with deficient knowledge of food hygiene represent the highest risk factor. Because of improper handling they can contaminate food in the process of storage, preparation and serving of food or treatment, despite adequate hygienic and conditions of food establishments. A great risk is also the hygienic condition of the surface, so it would make sense for employees to regularly raise awareness of the importance of cleaning and disinfection.
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