Food Facilities Mapping and Profiling Basis for Sanitary Inspection and Health Education

Food safety and sanitation is assumed to be one of the aspects of quality service that a food establishment can offer to its diners. It is the process of purchasing, handling, storing, and preparing food thru hygienic procedures in order to avoid potential health hazards. Health education, on the other hand, is a program that promotes various interventions for hygiene improvement. This study aimed to create a Geographical Information System (GIS) – based map with a profile to easily locate food facilities within the vicinity of one State College in Sagay City, Negros Occidental which need sanitary inspection. Th descriptive method was used in this research study through survey and observation. There were a total of 43 food facilities involved in this study. Among them were 3 Bakeries, 1 Restaurant, 3 Mobile Vendors, 2 Coffee shops, and 34 Confectionery facilities. After a series of surveys and deliberate observations, findings revealed that 38 out of 43 food facilities has acquired health cards only for their food handlers from the city health center while the other 5 has not. Findings also revealed that all 43 of them has never acquired Sanitary Permit to Operate and has not undergone inspection and monitoring on food preparation. This study recommends that persons in authority should conduct a sanitary inspection of all food facilities which were patronized and often visited by the students of this state college. It is further recommended that health education program will be conducted to train food facility managers and food handlers the essentials of food safety and sanitation.

Keywords: Food Safety, GIS, Health Education, Sanitation