Assessment of the sanitation and health level in the Mashhad food production and distribution centers covered by health center No. 3 in the Ramezan escalation plan – 2017

Background and Aim: Nutrition is one of the most effective factors for establishment of health. Nowadays, eating away from home is becoming more common and different kinds of food production and distribution centers are growing even more rapidly. Unsanitary health environmental conditions in these centers may cause different types of diseases. Therefore, it is necessary that production, keeping and distribution steps be according to health regulations؛ especially in tourist and pilgrimages cities and special occasion days such as Ramezan holy month. Accordingly, this study assessed the status of the sanitation and health level in the Mashhad food production and distribution centers covered health center No. 3 in the Ramezan escalation plan. Materials and Methods: This research was a cross-sectional descriptive study and the non-probable purposive sampling method was used. The environmental health inspection reports of the food production and distribution centers covered by health center No.3 during May and June 2017 were collected and summarized. Eventually the data was analyzed using Excel 2010 . Results: The research area covers 15214 food production and distribution units which 4652 visits was performed during the study. Of these number visits, 189 critical flaws, 204 referrals to the responsible person, 31 closures and 1522 issued health card were recorded. From the view point of the assess the quality of the used oil, iodine survey, surface microbial infiltration, color and essential oil, 69.1% 92.98%, 76.19% and 78.3% of the evaluated cases were in inappropriate health level respectively. Conclusion: According to the present study’s results, the environmental health situation of the food production and distribution centers is far from the national standards and guidelines. Correction of the attitude, sanitation, training, regular health control and surveillance and sanitation engineering principles are necessary for promotion of environmental health situation in these centers.

Keywords:

Health status , Environmental health , Mashhad , Food , Sanitation