Food Safety is of mainly

Food Safety is of mainly identified asa serious concern on every school canteens in the Philippines as students’,teachers’ and personnel’s health are at stake. Students buy food in the canteenregularly hence the need to ensure that food quality and safety must bemanaged.  If the guidelines in foodpreparation are not adhered to, consumers may be subjected to mild or severefood-borne diseases. Food-borne diseases are commonly causedby different microbes called pathogens that might be present on the food weconsumed. These microorganisms such as bacteria, yeast and mold has the abilityto multiply rapidly anytime and anywhere that might result to an infectious andmicrobial spoilage of food. A study of food hygiene revealed that exposure of foodto a significant amount of time and temperature allows the build-up and growth ofbacteria and might lead to food contamination and food spoilage.

Physical contact from the food handler,contaminated food and consumer is one of the crucial points for there’s a highpossibility that the consumer will experience a common symptoms and signsof food poisoning such as nausea, fever or bloody stool, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominalcramps or pain, and in severe cases that consumer may go into shock andcollapse.To ensure the safety of every student from the food they eatin school, canteen personnel should also be mindful of hygienic practices whichif not monitored can also contribute to physical contamination of food. Therules stated in DepEd Order 8, series of 2007, must be applied to schoolcanteen personnel and management. This should include proper work attire andfootwear, wearing of hair net and apron, proper hand washing, and warrantingthat the canteen personnel are healthy. While these factors may have been overseen and checked, theoverall environment and sanitation of the canteen also impacts the food safety mustbe supervised. Making sure that kitchen equipment, tables and counters are wellsanitized and the canteen premises is pest-controlled. This research will analyze set of accounts gathered from70-100 Senior High School students of Pangasinan National High School (PNHS).

The main goal of the research is to reveal the perception of the studentsregarding the food safety and sanitation of the school canteens and how it mayenhance the respective managements of each canteen of PNHS.