THE RELATIONSHIP OF SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF CONSUMERS IN THE CENTRAL ANATOLIA REGION WITH UREATED FOOD PATHOGENS IN THE STORAGE OF FOOD OF ANIMAL ORIGIN

Abstract

Adequate and correct alimentation is a basic right of human race for mental, physical and physiological development for both individuals and societies. Although the resources of the world have enough potential to nourish all the population, unfortunately hundreds of millions of human are facing with famine, starvation and lethal diseases. Animal based foods are very important for persons to live a healthy life in many ways. Variables as rapid urbanization, development of tourism sector, growing of the food and animal trade all over the world, changing food consuming habits and developed production technics and socio-economic conditions cause to increase the incidence of food infections and intoxications and important losses of foods, animals and human beings. Correct and adequate food security system procedures must be applied especially to animal based foods to minimize the risks for consumers? health. In spite of application of the correct procedures during the production period of the animal based foods, a lot of different variables of the consumers may change the safe animal based foods to important risk factors. Besides, the life style variables of the public as traditions, geographic regions, economic conditions, and the food consuming profiles may cause the animal originated foods to contaminate with different foodborne pathogens. The aim of this study was to determine the consumption profiles of the public who live in the cities of Middle Anatolian region (Ankara, Konya, Kayseri, Eski?ehir, Sivas, K?r?kkale, Aksaray, Karaman, K?r?ehir, Ni?de, Nev?ehir, Yozgat and Çank?r? / total of 13 cities) (total 2600 families / 200 families from each city) and how the preferences of the public effect the microbiological quality of animal based food groups (milk and its products, meat and its products, water products, poultry meat and its products and honey) consumed by the public. It was also aimed that to determine the effects of the consuming habits (brand choice, packed or open provided foods, the storing conditions of the animal based products from purchasing to consuming period, the perforation variables of the consumers according to their life styles, etc...) to the microbiological quality of animal based foods and to expose the correlations among the public health, consuming habits and product hygiene variables by using statistical models. According to the results it was exposed that the consumption profile, consumption habits and demographic variables of the consumers directly affected the microbiological quality of the foods which were purchased and stored in the houses by households.