| ORIGINAL RESEARCH |
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| Year : 2012 | Volume
: 1
| Issue : 1 | Page : 20-27 |
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Escherichia coli contamination of babies’ food-serving utensils in a district of West Sumatra, Indonesia
Aria Kusuma, Tris Eryando, Dewi Susanna
Faculty of Public Health, University of Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia
Correspondence Address:
Dewi Susanna
Faculty of Public Health, University of Indonesia, Depok
Indonesia
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DOI: 10.4103/2224-3151.206910 PMID: 28612775 
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Background: Contamination of baby’s complementary food may occur with Escherichia coli from several sources including unclean utensils. We examined the relationship between socio-economic conditions, environmental factors, characteristics of food handlers and contamination of babies food-serving utensils with E. coli.
Methods: The study was conducted in 21 villages of the Community Health Centre (CHC) Selayo in Indonesia. A cross-sectional design was used. A sample of 142 households, which had a 6-12 month-old baby on complementary food, was chosen randomly using midwives’ registration books. Respondents were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Check-lists were used for observations. Standard laboratory methods were used for collection of specimen and confirmation of contamination with E. coli.
Results: More than half of the respondents (59.2%) used water that had high risk of contamination and 61.3% of the latrines did not meet the criteria of a healthy latrine. Waste management practices of nearly all respondents (97.9%) were below the standards set by the Ministry of Health. More than half of the respondents (68.3%) did not wash their hands with soap for 20 seconds and 52.1% did not use flowing water for washing hands. Majority of the respondents’ hands (57%, 81/142) and 72.2% (104/142) of the eating utensils were found to be contaminated by E. coli. Contaminated hands of food handlers were more likely to contaminate the babies food-serving utensils (OR: 3.7; 95%CI: 1.62-8.46, p 0.002).
Conclusion: Contamination of the hands of food handler was associated with contamination of babies food-serving utensils by E. coli. Hence, food handlers should be trained on proper hand washing methods.
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