ASSESSING HOUSEHOLD FOOD SAFETY WITH A VALIDATED INDEX: CRITICAL ISSUES IN FOOD SAFETY AMONG HOUSEHOLDS WITH AND WITHOUT CHILDREN BELOW 5 YEARS

Background and objectives: Home is one of the primary locations of foodborne illnesses risks. Chances of food handling errors can pose high risk to susceptible people at home, especially under-five children (U5C). About 40% of global foodborne disease burden is contributed by this susceptible group, more so in countries like India where 15% of foodborne diseases are reported at household (HH) level. Food safety risks could be different among households with/without this vulnerable population. Given this background, we aimed to assess household food safety using a validated food safety index and identify critical issues in HHs with/without U5C. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among primary food preparers at home (N=400) with and without U5C (@200 in each category) drawn from rural and urban areas of Telangana State in south India. An 11-item validated food safety index (Maximum score-17) was administered. Data on incidence of food/waterborne illnesses in the fortnight preceding the survey was also collected. In addition, leftover cooked-foods (100g), drinking water (250ml) at point-of-use (PoU) and hand-rinses were collected for microbiological analysis (USFDA-BAM). Results: About 23% of the respondents reported at least one foodborne illness in the previous 15 days of the survey. Of those who suffered, as many as 53% were children. About 50% of HHs were at food safety risk (Index cut-offscore ≤9) and among these, a higher number had U5C. Such HHs have also shown significantly higher levels of food contamination than their counterparts with no U5C. Improper food storage, lack of pure water at PoU and fewer enabling assets (like separate kitchen; piped-water facility) were found to be critical issues affecting food safety among HHs with/without U5C. Along with these, practices like not reheating the leftovers and presence of pest/pet near the kitchen area were also affected food safety in HHs with U5C. However, poor hand-hygiene was critical among HHs without U5C. Rural HHs with U5C reported significantly (p