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. 2025 Aug 22;25:2902. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-23973-w

Table 2.

Food-handling practice compliance rates of male food handlers with different demographic characteristics working in catering service establishments (%)

Variable Age (years) Average monthly income (CNY) Work experience (years) Catering unit type Catering unit scale Food safety training
18 ~ 29 30 ~ 39 40 ~ 49  ≥ 50  < 3,000 3,000 ~ 4.999 5,000 ~ 6.999  ≥ 7,000  < 1 1 ~ 2 3 ~ 4 5 ~ 6 7 ~ 8  ≥ 9 Collective canteens Restaurants Small Medium Large No Yes
Total 176 216 240 16 144 181 267 56 32 120 80 40 112 264 156 492 64 304 280 64 584
Q1. Often wash hands with soap or hand sanitizer before handling food
 Yes 77.3 95.8 96.7 100.0** 91.7 96.7 95.1 53.6** 65.6 90.8 86.3 75.0 97.3 95.8** 82.7 93.9** 95.3 88.5 93.2 53.1 95.4**
Q2. Often check for any deterioration of food before handling it
 Yes 100.0 96.3 83.3 100.0** 87.5 100.0 88.8 100.0** 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 92.9 84.8** 100.0 90.2** 100.0 86.8 97.1** 62.5 95.9**
Q3. Often use a 3-compartment sinks to separately clean different types of raw food materials
 Yes 31.8 24.5 29.2 18.8 31.3 24.3 28.5 30.4 28.1 27.5 25.0 37.5 25.0 29.2 25.6 28.9 32.8 27.6 27.5 29.7 27.9
Q4. Often use separate containers/tools to store/process different raw food materials
 Yes 39.8 42.1 42.2 37.5 41.0 40.9 46.1 30.4 37.5 42.5 37.5 37.5 42.9 44.3 38.5 43.3 37.5 43.1 42.1 28.1 43.7*
Q5. Often separately refrigerate raw food materials, semi-finished products, and finished products
 Yes 79.0 84.3 87.9 56.3* 78.5 87.8 89.9 51.8** 43.8 86.7 87.5 82.5 81.3 86.7** 76.9 85.6* 81.3 84.9 82.5 67.2 85.3**
Q6. Often removing non-edible parts of aquatic products outside a specific room for food processing
 Yes 60.2 70.8 65.0 75.0 51.4 76.2 73.0 35.7** 37.5 63.3 83.8 27.5 77.7 65.9** 63.5 66.7 54.7 67.8 66.4 12.5 71.7**
Q7. Often put the disinfected tableware in special airtight cleaning facilities in time
 Yes 71.0 80.1 70.4 50.0* 59.0 86.7 81.3 28.6** 37.5 81.7 86.3 65.0 73.2 71.2** 71.2 74.0 76.6 69.7 74.6 35.9 77.4**
Q8. Often disinfect tableware (bowls, dishes, cups, chopsticks, knives, forks, and spoons)
 Yes 83.5 94.4 91.7 50.0** 86.8 90.6 96.6 57.1** 59.4 89.2 87.5 82.5 95.5 92.0** 80.8 92.1** 92.2 89.5 88.6 68.8 91.6**
Q9. Often store raw and cooked food in the same container
 No 66.5 57.4 59.2 56.3 63.2 55.8 60.7 67.9 53.1 65.0 61.3 72.5 51.8 61.0 60.9 60.4 57.8 58.2 63.6 65.6 59.9
Q10. Often separately refrigerate raw plant food, animal food, and marine products
 Yes 77.8 88.9 90.0 93.8** 84.7 87.3 91.4 64.3** 71.9 85.0 78.8 80.0 85.7 92.4* 81.4 88.0* 89.1 83.9 88.6 64.1 88.9**

* P < 0.05

** P < 0.001