Farm Food Safety Practices in the North of Iran

Food safety begins on the farms and farmers play a crucial role in producing healthy food. Several factors were investigated here including water quality, labor health, health facilities, packaging and storage, transportation, fertilizers and solid organic materials, and field sanitation to reach more comprehensive results. So, 380 farmers were selected from 77 villages of rural areas of Gonbad-e Kavus County, north of Iran, using multistage random sampling. Data were collected by a questionnaire and analyzed with the SPSS18 software. Results showed that the score of the food safety practice index was above average and could be evaluated at a good level. Farmers had the best practice in “field sanitation” and the worst practice in “labor health”. Literate farmers had better food safety practices than illiterate farmers. The food safety practice index showed positive correlations with educational level and farmer income from other jobs. However, negative correlations were observed regarding farmer age, job experience and income from husbandry. It is suggested that educational programs and essential facilities are needed to enable farmers to adhere to farm food safety practices.