The food safety management in beach tourism: A qualitative study using focus group discussion in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Background: Foodborne diseases are still a concern of public health sectors in Indonesia. The tourism area is an important place where the transmission of diseases could occur if there is no implementation of food safety management. This study aimed to investigate the local government management of food safety in the beach tourism area in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Methods: In this qualitative study, the focus group discussion (FGD) was used to gain in-depth information about the implementation of food safety management. Data were collected from Bantul Regency in December 2020. Qualitative data were obtained using a different statement about food safety from 15 informants from three levels (district, sub-district, and village levels). The informants were selected using the purposive sampling method to gain richer information from the expert. The NVivo software was used to code the data. The content analysis was used to analyze the FGD transcript and concluding statements. Results: Most of the informants were male with the mean age of 40 years. In terms of the description of the role, each of them has a role from any stage of food safety management, like implementation, formulation, action, evaluation, and inspection. The results showed that the waste management, implementation after training, facilities, and infrastructures were needed to improve the food safety management in the beach tourism area. The informants from the village level reported more specific information compared to those from other levels. Stakeholders need to work together to accelerate food safety management. Conclusion: The waste management and lack of facilities and infrastructure were the most important issues of food safety implementation.