Food Poisoning in East and West Libya and Healthy Foods

Abstract

Newly, food poisoning has increased internationally as community well-being is in a difficult situation because of poor food safety. The study aimed to evaluate the food safety opinion of Libyan people diagnosed with food poisoning shared similar circumstances from west and East Libya.  A face-to-face cross-sectional study was randomly performed on 164 individuals (97 males and 67 females) aged 20 to 45 years. The participants were from Tripoli and Derna. The study was conducted from 1st September 2024 to 30 January 2025. All participants were diagnosed with food poisoning. About 100 participants from Tripoli and 64 participants from Derna. The questionnaire included personal information and participants' opinions about food safety and hygiene. The approximate percentage of men and women were 59% and 41%, respectively. This explains that men were nearly 18.5% more likely than women to be susceptible to food poisoning. All participants had a university degree and a middle-income level.  123 (75%) participants had great awareness of food poisoning, while 41 (25%) participants did not have enough background about food hygiene. Also, participants mostly complained of abdominal cramps and diarrhea, 40% and 30%, respectively. However, there was a significant difference in the opinion about food poisoning (p values = 0.03) and a substantial correlation between educational level and understanding of food hygiene (p value = 0.022).