Food Safety Practices: A Survey of Rural and Urban Households of Punjab

Food safety and hygiene have a substantial impact on illnesses caused by food contamination. In the food cycle, food contamination can happen at any stage. Lack of knowledge regarding safe food purchasing, preparing and storing practices can lead to various food borne diseases. Keeping this in mind, the current study was designed to evaluate practices towards food safety among rural and urban households of Ludhiana district of Punjab state. Data were collected with self-structured interview schedule from hundred rural and hundred urban households. Results revealed that urban households scored better in all the four major food safety practices as compared to rural households. Further, it was found that majority of the overall households were not checking nutritional value, standard marks and storage instructions on labels of packed food items. It can be concluded that here is need to educate and create awareness among people regarding various food safety practices. Therefore, improving food safety measures will aid in reducing the burden of food related illnesses, eradicating poverty and advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.