Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40228247›Full record

ArticleMedicine2025

Public knowledge of food poisoning, risk perception and food safety practices in Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional survey following foodborne botulism outbreak.

Abdullah Alhuzaimi, Fadi Aljamaan, Fatema H Al-Ajwad, Wejdan Alabdulkareem, Fatimah S Alshahrani, Ibraheem Altamimi, Lama Al-Eyadhy, Abdullah Bukhari, Alanoud BinOmair, Sarah Al-Subaie and 11 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

21 authors.

Abdullah AlhuzaimiCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0002-9380-079
Fadi AljamaanCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0001-8404-6652
Fatema H Al-AjwadCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0009-0005-8431-9581
Wejdan AlabdulkareemCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0009-0009-0015-7490
Fatimah S AlshahraniCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0002-4646-7488
Ibraheem AltamimiCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0002-5149-0877
Lama Al-EyadhyCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0009-0007-0226-5554
Abdullah BukhariCollege of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Rabigh, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0009-0004-1482-4411
Alanoud BinOmairCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Sarah Al-SubaieCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0002-3128-5921
Yamen ShayahCollege of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0009-0002-6979-8279
Ali AlhaboobCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Alaa A AlanteetDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0009-0008-7986-9185
Abeer AlanteetCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Mohammad AlharbiCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0009-0002-9158-7865
Amr JamalCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0002-4051-6592
Mazin BarryCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0003-2274-007
Rasha Assad AssiriDepartment of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0001-8946-4618
Khalid AlhasanCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0002-4291-8536
Jaffar A Al-TawfiqSpecialty Internal Medicine and Quality Department, Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0002-5752-2235
Mohamad-Hani TemsahCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0002-4389-9322

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

To investigate food poisoning knowledge, risk perception and safe food handling practices among Saudi Arabian public following foodborne botulism outbreak. A cross-sectional survey targeting the Saudi Arabian public between May 6 to 20, 2024, following the first foodborne botulism outbreak. Infectious disease and public health experts developed survey questions according to Saudi Public Health Authority and Ministry of Health (MOH) guidelines, and distributed surveys through social media. Of 3779 participants, 73.1% were female and 50.1% were aged 18 to 24 years. Almost one-third (30.2%) reported a previous food poisoning experience, with an incidence of 71.7 cases per 1000 person years. The most common perceived source of FP was restaurants foods (80.3%). The overall knowledge score of the participants regarding food poisoning was 3.42 ± 1.57 out of 7. The mean food safety practice score was 3.70 ± 1.42 out of 9. Multivariable regression analysis showed individuals aged 35 years or older (β = 0.205, P < .001), those who were married (β = 0.204, P = .003), participants with previous (FP) experience (β = 0.089, P = .009), and those who relied on information from the Ministry of Health or medical publications regarding FP (P < .001) exhibited significantly higher practice scores than other groups. The least adherence to safe practices were noted among the following: routine use of thermometer during cooking (2.7%), avoidance of washing raw chicken (13.7%) and washing hands after using cellphone during cooking (26.1%). The FP knowledge score did not correlate significantly with practice score (P = .065). This study highlights the significant knowledge gaps and inadequate food safety practices among the public in Saudi Arabia. Although certain groups, including adults (>35 years), married individuals, and those with previous food poisoning experience, showed greater adherence to safe food handling practices, adherence to specific preventive measures remained generally low. These findings highlight the need for targeted educational initiatives and interventions to improve food safety awareness and practices across diverse demographic groups in Saudi Arabia. The integration of generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, as a public resource for food poisoning information, presents a new opportunity, but it requires further research and development to ensure accuracy and reliability.

Indexed as

BotulismDisease OutbreaksFoodborne DiseasesFood SafetyHealth Knowledge, Attitudes, PracticeAdolescentAdultCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleFood HandlingHumansMaleMiddle AgedSaudi ArabiaSurveys and QuestionnairesYoung Adultchatbotsfoodborne poisoningfood safetygenerative AILLMpublicSaudi Arabia

Identifiers

PMID40228247
PMCPMC11999408

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.