Extending the KAP framework: Food safety knowledge, attitudes, practices, and pathogen awareness among hotel service personnel

Dimension / Items	Factor Loadings	Cronbach’s Alpha	KMO	Skewness	Kurtosis
Knowledge		.818	.791	.196	-1.017
K1	.876
K2	.973
K3	.645
K4	.777
K5	.656
K6	.695
K7	.796
K8	.871
K9	.809
K10	.781
Attitude		.824	.810	.143	-.925
A1	.830
A2	.848
A3	.850
A4	.611
A5	.675
Practice		.868	.888	-.036	-.764
P1	.692
P2	.761
P3	.689
P4	.764
P5	.626
P6	.699
P7	.680
P8	.724
P9	.652
P10	.708
P11	.789
P12	.753
P13	.638
P14	.611
P15	.726
P16	.856
P17	.791
P18	.785
P19	.560
P20	.773
P21	.649
P22	.661
P23	.849
P24	.813
P25	.771
P26	.667
P27	.665
P28	.639
P29	.670
P30	.639
P31	.680
P32	.692
P33	.633

Table 2:

Demographic characteristics of participants (N = 249)

Variable	Category	n	%
Age	Under 20 years old	39	15.7
	20–40 years old	166	66.7
	40 years and above	44	17.7
Gender	Male	146	58.6
Gender	Female	103	41.4
Marital Status	Married	81	32.5
	Single	146	58.6
	Divorced	22	8.8
Education Level	Primary school	9	3.6
	Secondary school	44	17.7
	High school	111	44.6
	Associate degree	43	17.3
	Bachelor’s degree	38	15.3
	Graduate degree	4	1.6
Position	Head waiter	15	6.0
	Captain waiter	19	7.6
	Waiter	145	58.2
	Other	70	28.1
Professional Experience	Less than 1 year	36	14.5
	1–5 years	86	34.5
	5–10 years	84	33.7
	More than 10 years	43	17.3
Food Safety Training	Yes	103	41.4
	Partially	37	14.9
	No	109	43.8
Food Safety Certificate	Yes	87	34.9
Food Safety Certificate	No	162	65.1
Service Training	Yes	119	47.8
	Partially	35	14.1
	No	95	38.2

Table 3:

Correlation analysis results

Variables	Mean	SD	1	2	3
1. Knowledge	3.5249	.68382	1
2. Attitude	3.1719	.96035	.761**	1
3. Practice	3.9843	.36941	.671**	.473**	1

Table 4:

ANOVA results according to food safety training

Variable	Group	N	$\bar{X}$	Ss	Source of Variance	SS	df	MS	F	η²	p	Post-Hoc
Knowledge	Yes	103	4.0068	.52585	Between Groups	52.209	2	26.104	100.722	.45	.000	1-2; 1-3; 2-3
	Partially	37	3.6649	.49622	Within Groups	63.757	246	.259
	No	109	3.0220	.49709	Total	115.966	248
Attitude	Yes	103	3.6757	.73837	Between Groups	65.431	2	32.716	49.286	.29	.000	1-3; 2-3
	Partially	37	3.4649	.72886	Within Groups	163.292	246	.664
	No	109	2.5963	.90553	Total	228.723	248
Practice	Yes	103	4.1586	.35416	Between Groups	5.473	2	2.736	23.727	.16	.000	1-2; 1-3
	Partially	37	3.9140	.34951	Within Groups	28.370	246	.115
	No	109	3.8435	.32172	Total	33.842	248

Table 5:

Pathogen microorganism knowledge results

Question	Correct Answer	Correct n	Correct %
Which bacteria most commonly cause illness in poultry products?	Salmonella / Campylobacter	57	22.9
Which microorganism causes foodborne illness-es?	All of the above	72	28.9
Which bacterium is most commonly found around the nose, nostrils, and mouth?	Staphylococcus aureus	42	16.9
How can bacteria causing food poisoning enter the kitchen environment?	All of the above	109	43.8
What happens to food poisoning bacteria at body temperature?	Rapidly multiply	41	16.5

Table 6:

Differences in pathogen knowledge by food safety training

Variable	Group	N	$\bar{X}$	Ss	Source of Variance	SS	df	MS	F		p	Post-Hoc
Pathogen Knowledge	Yes	103	2.43	1.47	Between Groups	245.037	2	122.518
	Partially	37	1.08	1.16	Within Groups	308.144	246	1.253	97.810	.443	.000	1-2;1-3; 2-3
	No	109	0.28	0.61	Total	553.181	248

Table 7:

Mediation analysis results

Path	B	SE	ß	t	p	LLCI	ULCI
Knowledge → Attitude	1.069	.058	.761	18.441	.000	.955	1.183
Knowledge → Practice	.400	.039	.741	10.200	.000	.323	.477
Attitude → Practice	-.035	.028	-.091	-1.256	.210	-.090	.020
Pathogen Knowledge → Practice	.086	0.15	.348	5.760	.000	.057	.116
Knowledge → Attitude → Practice	-.038	.030	-.069	–	–	-.098	.021

[i] Bootstrap sample size = 5,000. R² (Attitude) = .579; R² (Practice) = .454

References

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Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ejthr-2026-0014 | Journal eISSN: 2182-4924 | Journal ISSN: 2182-4916

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Language: English

Page range: 171 - 183

Submitted on: Feb 24, 2025

Accepted on: Jun 3, 2026

Published on: Aug 31, 2026

Published by: Polytechnic Institute of Leiria

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Publication frequency: 2 issues per year

Keywords:

Food and beverage,

food safety,

foodborne diseases,

hospitality industry,

service personnel

Related subjects:

Business and economics,

Business management,

Business management, other,

Industries,

Tourism, hospitality, travel,

Event industry, leisure industry,

Sports and recreation,

Sports and recreation, other

© 2026 Feridun Aydinli, Birsen Bulut Solak, published by Polytechnic Institute of Leiria
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 16 (2026): Issue 1 (August 2026)