Foodborne diseases risk factors associated with food safety knowledge and practices of women in Sharjah-United Arab Emirate

Foodborne diseases are a worldwide public health issue, as they are responsible for large cases of sickness, deaths, and high financial losses. The objective of the current study was to identify the knowledge, practices, and risk factors of women in Sharjah-United Arab Emirates that can lead to foodborne diseases. The study was a cross-sectional survey, a total of 656 respondents completed a food safety questionnaire from January until April 2020. The total score of food safety knowledge, practices, and risk factors of participants in Sharjah was good (57.4%). In “cross-contamination” and “recognizing of foodborne diseases” sections, the respondents showed a high scale of knowledge and practices (80.0%). The respondents had good knowledge of “food purchasing” (67.5%), “cleaning and personal hygiene” (62.9%), and “food storage” (61.1%) aspects. Even though they lack knowledge of “cooking and food consumption” (28.0%) and “risk factors of foodborne disease” (20.0%), this indicated that the respondents might be under risk of food poisoning. There was a statistically significant (P ≤ 0.05) link between overall food safety knowledge and practices of participants with employment status and educational levels. To our knowledge, this is the first study to explore food safety knowledge, practices, and risk factors of women in Sharjah-United Arab Emirates that can lead to foodborne diseases. Design new food safety education programs for women and motivating women to participate in these programs is suggested. •Women have good knowledge and practice on prevention of cross-contamination.•Women have good knowledge on foodborne diseases.•Women have poor knowledge and practice on cooking.•Women have poor knowledge on microorganisms that cause foodborne diseases.•Correlations exist between knowledge and employment status and educational levels.