The knowledge and attitude of students in relation with health and food safety at Tehran University of Medical Sciences

Food safety is an important principle to prevent human from catching diseases and it also protects environment from contamination. The purpose of this study is to investigate the knowledge and attitude of students regarding health and food safety. This cross-sectional-analytical study was performed on 300 students at Tehran university of medical sciences students by using a self-administered questionnaire consisting of demographic information and awareness and attitude towards health and food safety questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS-16. The results showed that 68 percent of students had good knowledge and 31 percent had average knowledge about health and food safety. The students had good attitude towards health and food safety. There was a significant difference between women and men in terms of awareness (P=0.002). Also, There was a significance difference among students of different schools of knowledge (P=0.001). But no statistically significant difference was observed between age groups. Having awareness towards health and food safety is considered an important issue. Although the students had good knowledge, the inclusion of a course offered to promote their knowledge in this regard seems necessary.