Key Food Hygiene Behaviors to Reduce Microbial Food Contamination in Rural Bangladesh (original) (raw)

Objectives Microbial contamination of complementary foods, which puts young children at risk of developing intestinal infections, could be reduced by improved handwashing and food hygiene practices. We quantify the effect of maternal food hygiene practices on complementary food contamination in order to identify food hygiene behaviors with the greatest impact in our study population. Methods We analyzed cross-sectional data on food hygiene practices and measured Escherichia coli counts as an indicator of microbial contamination in complementary food samples from 342 households of the Food and Agricultural Approaches to Reducing Malnutrition (FAARM) trial in Sylhet, Bangladesh. We used multivariable logistic regression to examine associations of maternal food hygiene behaviors with food contamination. Results About 46% of complementary food samples had detectable levels of Escherichia coli. Handwashing with soap at five critical times (OR: 0.7, 95% CI: 0.6 – 0.9), cleanliness of feed...