{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,31]],"date-time":"2026-01-31T02:28:03Z","timestamp":1769826483009,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":56,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,31]],"date-time":"2024-05-31T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1717113600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Hygiene"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Good manufacturing practices play an important role in obtaining safe food and preventing foodborne diseases. To achieve this goal, food handlers must receive appropriate training to be aware of their responsibilities. In this work, compliance with specific personal hygiene requirements by food handlers was assessed in a cross-sectional study of traditional small retail establishments, namely butcher (n = 56) and fishmonger (n = 17) shops in Almada, Portugal. Food handlers (n = 140, of which 113 worked in butcher shops, and 27 worked in fishmonger shops) were interviewed for data collection, and retail establishments were audited considering specific hygiene requisites. In fishmonger shops, most food handlers are women (89%), aged 18 to 45 years (70%), with a high school degree, having worked for less than 5 years in this activity, while in butcher shops most food handlers are men (90%) over 45 years old (58%), with a basic education level, and more than 26 years of experience. Most food handlers (&gt;95%) attended recent food safety and hygiene training courses and were able to recognize that hand sanitizers cannot replace a proper hand wash, and to identify Staphylococcus aureus transmission routes to food. However, approximately 23% of retail establishments failed to provide hot water in the handwashing basin and exhibited improper placement of handwashing instructions. Furthermore, these establishments did not implement corrective actions following non-conforming microbiological results of hand hygiene monitoring. These findings reinforce the need for consistent management commitment, and for providing food handlers with regular training, which is crucial for maintaining a strong food safety and hygiene culture in these traditional small retail establishments.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/hygiene4020017","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,3]],"date-time":"2024-06-03T12:29:47Z","timestamp":1717417787000},"page":"207-220","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Specific Personal Hygiene Procedures and Practices in Food Handlers\u2014A Cross-Sectional Study in Butcher and Fishmonger Shops in Almada"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"4","author":[{"given":"In\u00eas","family":"Oliveira","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculdade de Medicina Veterin\u00e1ria, Universidade de Lisboa, 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal"},{"name":"Departamento de Prote\u00e7\u00e3o Civil, Divis\u00e3o de Bem-Estar Animal e Seguran\u00e7a Alimentar, Servi\u00e7o Veterin\u00e1rio e de Bem-Estar Animal da C\u00e2mara Municipal de Almada, 2800-158 Almada, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Miguel","family":"Almeida","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Autoridade Sanit\u00e1ria Veterin\u00e1ria Concelhia da C\u00e2mara Municipal de Almada, 2800-158 Almada, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3108-4177","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jo\u00e3o J. Ferreira","family":"Gomes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CEAUL\u2014Centro de Estat\u00edstica e Aplica\u00e7\u00f5es, Faculdade de Ci\u00eancias, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9098-4389","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ana Rita","family":"Henriques","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CIISA\u2014Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health and AL4AnimalS\u2014Associate Laboratory for Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal"},{"name":"Egas Moniz Center for Interdisciplinary Research (CiiEM), Egas Moniz School of Health & Science, 2829-511 Caparica, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,31]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"World Health Organization (WHO) (2024, February 15). Foodborne Diseases. 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