Author(s): Sadi Taha, Mahwish Sindhu, Ahmad Albloush, Tareq M. Osaili, Eslam Alhogaraty, Op Bohra
Issues concerning food safety required a vigilant consideration by the management executives in the foodservice sector to mitigate risks relative to user's tourism, economy, and health. The current study sought to analyze the statistical correlation between behavioral intentions towards hygienic food practices, attitude and knowledge exhibit by the food safety personnel working in Dubai-based restaurants; the implications of knowledge and attitude concerning food safety on incumbent's workplace commitment and, eventually, on the food handler's attitude concerning food safety. In addition to this, the implications of the attitude and knowledge concern food safety on personnel work satisfaction and, ultimately, food handler's behavioral practices concerning food safety. For data collection, a self-administered survey-based questionnaire comprising food safety behavior, knowledge, attitude, workplace commitment and job satisfaction was executed among the food safety handlers working at 90 restaurants across Dubai, UAE. The SEM (Structural Equation Modeling) techniques have been adopted for wide-ranging results in the quest for analyzing obtained data. The findings demonstrated that the correlation between food handler’s behavioral intention towards hygienic workplace practices, knowledge and attitude with the food handler's workplace commitment and the correlation between workplace commitment and behavioral practices among the food handlers were significant and positive (PË-0.05). Last but not least, the empirical relationship knowledge and attitude concerning food safety with workplace satisfaction among food handlers and the correlation between behavioral practices and workplace satisfaction among the food handlers were significant and cheerful.