Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices on Food Safety among Food Handlers Working in Public Food Service Establishments in Lemi Kura Subcity, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Foodborne diseases, resulting from poor food handling and sanitation practices, are common public health problems globally. The primary contributing factors to potential foodborne disease outbreaks are often attributed to the poor perception and practices of food handlers regarding food safety. This study is aimed at assessing the knowledge, attitude, and practices of food handlers working in public food service establishments in Lemi Kura subcity, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2022 to September 2023, involving 400 food handlers from 20 randomly selected public food service establishments. Data were collected using a structured interview-administered questionnaire and an observational checklist. The collected data were entered into Microsoft Excel and then transferred to SPSS version 20 for analysis. Descriptive statistics were employed to summarize the data, and Pearson's chi-square test was used to evaluate the association of sociodemographic factors with the knowledge, attitude, and practices of food handlers towards food safety. Of the 400 food handlers, 65.5% had good knowledge about food safety. All food handlers were knowledgeable that washing hand before handling food will reduce risk of poisoning, bacteria are the main cause of food poisoning, and temperature plays a big role in bacterial growth. This study also revealed that 65.3% of the food handlers had good attitude towards food safety and 55.3% of food handlers had good food handling practice. Based on the observation, 38.5% of food handlers had good food handling practice. Taking training, age, and work experience of food handlers have statistically significant (