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Abstract Tourism is an important earner of foreign exchange; hence, the protection of the visitors’ health is very important and our nutritional status, health, physical and mental faculties depend on the food we eat and how we eat it. Access to good quality food has been man’s main endeavor from the earliest days of human existence. Safety of food is a basic requirement of food quality. Food systems in developing countries are not always as well organized and developed as in the industrialized world. Moreover, problems of growing population, urbanization, lack of resources to deal with pre- and post- harvest losses in food, and problems of environmental and food hygiene mean that food systems in developing countries continue to be stressed, adversely affecting quality and safety of food supplies. People in developing countries are therefore exposed to a wide range of potential food quality and safety risks. The present study aimed to assess food handling sanitation practices during catering in some hotels in Alexandria, evaluate the personal hygiene of food handlers and to assess food handling practices and sanitation measures in hotel kitchen. To fulfill this aim, the following has been adopted: 1. A total of 24 hotel kitchens were visited. 2. Kitchens in each of the previously mentioned hotels were visited 2 to 4 times (at least one week apart) according to the capacity of the catering service. Specially designed sanitation checklist containing the following 7 main areas of evaluation was filled. I. Personnel. II. Buildings and grounds. III. Sanitary operations. IV. Sanitary facilities and controls. V. Equipment and utensils. VI. Processes and controls. VII. Storage. 3. Data obtained from the check-list were evaluated as follows: 3.1 Each hotel was given scores in each parameter and item of the check-list. Comparisons were then made among hotels within the same star and hotels of different stars. 3.2 All hotels were classified into grades according to their scores in some of the parameters/items of the checklist. 3.3 Hazards identified while inspection were listed and the incidence of occurrences was calculated. 3.4 Standard auditing sheets were filled for each hotel, CCPs were identified and comparisons were made with their scores in the parameters/items of the sanitation checklist. |