Evaluation of knowledge, attitudes, and practices of estate managers on food safety of black tea manufacturing in the Uva region of Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan black tea is renowned for its high quality and regarded as a brand that is chemically safe, ozone-friendly, and ethically acceptable with accountable stakeholders in the supply chain. Meantime, food safety has become one of the mandated food attributes that is heavily concern by stakeholders even at the estate level. Hence, this study aimed to determine the level of knowledge, attitudes, and practice (KAP) of managers at black tea manufacturing in the Uva region of Sri Lanka regarding basic food safety concerns. Data were collected from 30 respondents at 30 black tea manufacturing factories in the Uva region using a stratified random sampling technique. A pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaire based on KAP of basic food safety was utilized and collected data were analyzed using descriptive analysis and correlation analysis. The study indicated that the mean percentage of knowledge was satisfactory (93.1%), and the mean score for attitudes and practices of food safety was 4.7±0.4 (X±SD) and 4.6±0.5 (X±SD), respectively. However, this study depicted that the knowledge of food safety influenced managers’ attitudes (0.421, P<0.05) but not their food safety behaviour. Further, they believed that food safety management systems would be a means of directing their black tea to the international market (76.7%), while pledging the concerns of food safety (70%). However, it was depicted that constraints with food handlers (100%) and financial difficulties (73.3%) hugely affected the implementation of food safety management systems at the black tea manufacturing factories in the Uva region of Sri Lanka. Hence, this study suggests continuous, periodical but short training to sustain the practice of handling teas safely in the Uva region of Sri Lanka.