Research Articles

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://atuspace.atu.edu.gh/handle/123456789/23

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Assessing the effect of dawadawa stored under different temperature regimes in cooking.
(International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management,, 2017) Mensah-Kufuor, A. G.
Most Africans in general and Ghanaians to be specific have ignored their healthy and nutritious local meals and additives for foreign ones. These have become a major worry to many health practitioners and nutritionists. The research therefore considers the intricacies of understanding the various storage effects of Dawadawa in effective cooking. Exploratory research design was employed in this study to investigate consumer preferences for the different recipes for Dawadawa. This allowed the comparison of the dishes which gave additional explanation compared to the analysis t the analysis based only on individual dishes. Two samples of Dawadawa, 25g of each, were used to prepare and cook the Dafaduka, a one pot rice dish and Ayoyo Soup in order to ascertain consumers’ preference of the flavour and taste of the Dawadawa samples. A panel of 30 HCIM students sampled the dishes for aroma, taste and overall acceptability and stated their response on a sensory evaluation form. The comparison of the two Dawadawa samples for Dafaduka and Ayoyo as certains that whole fresh Dawadawa under room temperature is most preferred by consumers when used for Ayoyo soup than whole fresh Dawadawa refrigerated or room temperatured and used for Dafaduka. Again, the study establishes that refrigerated Soyabean Dawadawa is preferred when used for Dafaduka than the refrigerated or room temperature Soyabean Dawadawa used for Ayoyo soup.
Sanitation in Accra Technical University hostel and its environs: A case study of Accra Technical University old hostel.
(International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management, 2017) Mensah-Kufuor, A. G.; Gablah, G. P.
Sanitation and hygiene are among the powerful drives of human development as they affect quality of life at many levels including improved health and economic status. Until proper hygiene is consistently practiced everywhere, the desired impacts of improved sanitation and hygiene in terms of health benefits cannot be realized. The purpose of this study is to identify and analyse factors which lead to better sanitation management and minimise ill health costs of students and staff of the University. Three sets of questionnaires were designed for the Hostel Manager, housekeeping staff and the students. Convenience and judgmental sampling was used to select housekeeping and student respondents respectively. The study revealed that absenteeism of labourers, lack of water, working and cleaning materials and refuse disposal were the factors which contribute to sanitation problems. The implementation of good hygiene and sanitation practices were indicators of cleaning of sleeping and bathroom and the environs in general. In addition, sanitation programs management had been put in place by management to check unhygienic practices, and students were encouraged to practice personal, food and environmental hygiene. It is recommended that Accra Technical University should look at any sanitation situation as a challenge to prevent health related problems; water reservoirs should be made available and positioned at all vantage points for the cleaning staff to clean the environs on a daily basis. Again, cleaning of the environs should be a total responsibility of all stakeholders of the institution and not only the cleaners and all should endeavour to practice all forms of hygiene to achieve a healthy sanitation status.
Assessment of Knowledge and Practices of Food Hygiene and Safety of Caterers in Senior High Schools in Ghana: A Case Study of Two Senior High Schools in Koforidua.
(ADRRI Journal of Agriculture and Food Sciences, 2017) Nartey, E.; Owusu, J.; Gamor, E.; Mensah, E. E.
With health care industry competition on the rise, many hospital foodservice operations are looking for ways to improve patient satisfaction. It is against this background that this study evaluated the foodservice quality (that is the tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, empathy and assurance of foodservice) being delivered in the public hospitals with a critical look at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. A multi-stage sampling involving stratified and simple random sampling were used to select 200 patients. According to the results of the study, food quality (4.09) was ranked as the highest followed by food safety (4.085), meal service quality (4.06) and physical environment (3.992) respectively. Confidence in hospital food is built only when proper foodservice is provided (100%). Different geographical locations (80%), different groups of people (78%) and different foodservice managements (75%) are the major factors influencing food preferences among the respondents. However, a holistic approach is needed to provide successful foodservice, considering economic, social and ecology factors in the hospital environment.
Quality foodservice delivery in hospitals (inpatients’ perspective): A Case of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Greater Accra–Ghana.
(ADRRI Journal of Agriculture and Food Sciences, 2017) Mensah, E. E.; Adonu, R. E.; Ametepe, G. S.
With health care industry competition on the rise, many hospital foodservice operations are looking for ways to improve patient satisfaction. It is against this background that this study evaluatedthe foodservice quality (thatis the tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, empathy and assurance of foodservice) being delivered in the public hospitals with a critical look at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. A multi-stage sampling involving stratified and simple random sampling were used to select 200 patients.According to the results of the study, food quality (4.09) was ranked as the highest followed by food safety (4.085), meal service quality (4.06) and physical environment (3.992) respectively.Confidence in hospital food is builtonly when proper foodservice is provided (100%). Different geographical locations (80%), different groups of people (78%) and different foodservice managements (75%) are the major factors influencing food preferences among the respondents. However, a holistic approach is needed to provide successful foodservice, considering economic, social and ecology factors in the hospital environment
Knowledge and practices of Hygiene of Fresh-Cut Fruit Vendors - A case study of New Juaben Municipality in the Eastern Region of Ghana.
(International Journal of Technology and Management Research, 2017) Owusu, J.; Nartey, E.; Gamor, E.; Mensah, E. E.
In recent times, many people prefer to purchase fruits which have undergone minimal processing probably due to lack of time and convenience. Fresh-cutfruits are ready-to-eat food, butcan be a source of contamination and hence transmission of food-borne diseasessuch as typhoid and cholera. The contamination of fresh-cut fruits can be caused by the handlers, therefore, this study was carried out to assess the hygienic knowledge and practices of fresh-cutfruit handlers in the New Juaben Municipality in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The handlers studied include those who deal with fruits such as pawpaw, watermelon, and pineapple. The two main instruments used for gathering the data were questionnaires and personal observation. The responses of the handlers were analyzed using SPSS. Most of the respondents work in hygienic premises, have good knowledge of food hygiene, and practice good hygiene especially during packaging of processed fruits. The observation indicated that even though most respondents use gloves and aprons, they do not cover the hair, mouth, and nose, and this could predispose the fruits to contamination. Although, majority of the respondents have waste bins, most (85.4%) of them were hand-operated with only a few (7.3%) having tight cover, andthis couldinvite flies to the premises.Fresh-cut fruit handlers in the New Juaben Municipality should be given periodic education on food hygiene.
Legal regulation of alcohol sale in retail sectors of hospitality industry in Accra.
(International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management, 2018) Mensah-Kufuor, A. G.
This research examines the legal regulations governing the sale of alcohol in retail sectors of the Hospitality Industry in Accra, Ghana. The objectives of the study were to find out whether there are laws governing the sale of alcohol in the retail sectors and to establish what these laws are. Determine which governmental body is responsible for the enforcement of the alcohol regulations and how well they execute their duties. Examine the knowledge level of operators observing alcohol laws and ascertain the necessary requirements for operators to acquire license to operate. Descriptive survey design was used to quantitatively and qualitatively collect the data from drinking bar operators and law regulators/law enforcement body respectively. The sample procedure employed was the cluster sample method. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse and process the data from the questionnaires and thematic analyses was used to qualitatively analyse the interview to augment the data from the questionnaire. Findings reveal that there are laws/regulations governing the sale of alcohol, regulated by the statutory boards, yet there is a big gap between the laws governing the sale of alcohol and what is being practiced /observed on the Ghanaian market. Majority of the alcohol sellers/operators did not know these laws and those who knew also find it very difficult to observe them. In conclusion, the knowledge and adherence of these laws is vital and beneficial to all, therefore the need to educate the citizenry. This study also offer suggestions to the regulators, that they should endeavour to reinstate these laws and help operators to obey them by educating, monitoring and administering punishment to those who do not abide by them.
Assessing frontline staff performance of service delivery in some selected hotels in Accra Metropolis.
(International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management, 2017) Mensah-Kufuor, A. G.; Doku, V.
The need of the Customer satisfaction means that how the customer perceives service delivery. Customer satisfaction will be a function of service that performance relative to the customer expectation. For this reason, it is important to understand how customer expectation is formed in order to identify the factors of service satisfaction in the hotel industry. There are views from different customers with different expectations, on their knowledge base of a product or service. This can be implied that a customer may estimate what the service performance will be or may think what the performance ought to be. If the service performance meets or exceeds customers’ expectation, the customers will be satisfied. The objective of the study were to assess the performance of frontline staff in the hotel industry. With a sample size of seventy five (75) picked at random from five (5) selected hotels with their grading ranging from two-star and three-star and the people interviewed being management staff, frontline staff and guest. The study used questionnaires for data collection and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for analysis of the data. The findings indicate that “Quality services” is the highest ranking among other service dimensions which the hotel customers expect. This signifies that the hotel customers are concerned with a standard of service that should be provided equivalently within the industry. Regarding the service expectation dimensions, inferential analyses show that there are significant differences among hotel customers, who have different patterns of visit, age ranges, and levels of income. The managerial implications are drawn from this study for two and three hotels, and policymakers
Hygiene and food safety practices of traditional caterers: A case study of Kantamanto Market in Accra, Ghana.
(ADRRI Journal of Agriculture and Food Sciences, 2019) Baisie, M..; Torson, S.; Commey, V
The study aimed at the activities of traditional caterers and how it affects the food safety of their customers. The population was ‘chopbar’ operators (traditional caterers) and customers at the Kantamanto Market in Accra. Using simple random sampling, twenty (20) chopbar operators were selected whiles eighty (80) customers who patronized these chopbars were conveniently selected. The instruments used were questionnaires, interview schedules and checklists. Poor sanitary conditions, poor personal hygiene, and pest infestation were identified. Findings uncovered revealed Traditional caterers as unprofessional operators in the food industry who are in need of in-service training to help them operate professionally. It was further revealed that, 100% of these chopbar operators had undergone medical screening, but felt reluctant to get their staff medically examined due to high staff turnover and the fact that they (the operators) had to foot the medical bills. This revealed an alarming situation as the employees could be careers of communicable diseases. Furthermore, though 100% customers had not experienced any food borne illness they desired improvement in chop bar businesses due to the high possibility of contamination. It is recommended, that Government through its agencies should intensify education to ensure good sanitary practices and service delivery. Food policies and bye-laws should be reinforced and monitored by Food and Drugs Authority and Ghana Tourism Authority.
Assessing service quality and customer satisfaction in Ghana’s Hotel Industry: A case study of engineering guest house–KNUST
(Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Sports, 2020) Asirifi, G. H.; Senya, E. K.
Background: It has been generally observed that service quality plays a very instrumental role in customer satisfaction. This study therefore, examined the impact of service quality on customer satisfaction in Ghana’s hotel industry, with Engineering Guest House (EGH) of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). Methods: In pursuit of the stated objective, descriptive cross-sectional survey was adopted as the research design for this study. Data was sourced from both primary and secondary sources. Structured questionnaires which was the main research instrument was used to elicit information from the participants which comprised mainly of customers of EGH-KNUST who have been patronizing the services of the said entity over 2 years. ANOVA and t-statistics were used to test the hypothesis while regression analysis was used to analyzed the data. Results: The findings showed an R2 value of 0.762 which reveals that service quality (using the SERVQUAL components) accounted for 76.2% of the variation in customer satisfaction. The f-statistics of 32.318 reveals that the model is statistically significant at 0.05 significant level. Conclusion: It was concluded that there was a significant relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction at EGH-KNUST, hence the guest house should continue to investigate precisely what guests want and develop innovative ways to meeting guests’ expectation.
Exploring the product development in beetroot for production purposes.
(Researchjournali’s Journal of Agriculture, 2020) Graham, L. D.
Beetroot (Beta vulgaris) is usually consumed for its medical properties, mainly as antioxidant and immune boosting. Fifty (50) conveniently randomly selected students and staff of Accra Technical University were chosen on the bases that they are potential consumers of the various products that was developed. A semi-structured questionnaires were prepared for both qualitative and quantitative data collection. Shredded beetroots were subjected to oven and solar drying. The chips were converted into powder, which was then used to produce jam, juice, jelly, drink, tea and marmalade.
Production and acceptability of tit-bits made from wheat and tiger nut flour blends.
(. International Journal of Academic and Applied Research, 2021) Senya, E. K.; Kwaatemaa, F.; Sitsofe, K. R
The study sought to produce tidbits from a blend of wheat and tigernut flour at varying proportions 100:0, 80:20, and 50:50. Three different samples were produced and a three digit code was assigned to the products. Product ‘ABC’ contained only 100% wheat flour, DEF 80% wheat flour and 20% tigernut flour and GHI 50% wheat flour and 50% tigernut flour. Proximate composition and sensory properties of the product were carried out. The results of the proximate composition shows an increasing level of Moisture 3.33 13.38, ash 0.19 0.34, crude protein 8.01 14.16, crude fat 29.79 37.03 and carbohydrates 40.38 52.89. Sensory evaluation showed that acceptable Tidbit with qualities similar to 100% wheat. Data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and means were separated by least significant different (LSD) procedure, using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. Tidbit could be produced with 20% tiger nut flour replacement. Again, the result obtained indicated that pastries made from tiger-nut flour has good nutritional profile with protein, fat, carbohydrate and other nutrients comparable with that of cookies made from wheat flour. Tidbits Sample GHI (80% WF: 20% TNF) was most preferred. The result for tidbits showed no significant difference (P<0.05) in all the samples, substitutions up to 20% were generally acceptable for tidbits K
Knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) of foodservice providers, and microbial quality on food served in Kumasi.
(Journal of Foodservice Business Research, 2020) Gyebi, B. E. A.; Annan, R. A.; Apprey, C.; Asamoah-Boakye, O.; Asare, C. Y.
Background Poor Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) of food safety and hygiene by foodservice providers lead to food contamination and pose health threats to consumers. This study assessed the KAP on food safety and hygiene, and microbial quality of food sold by formal and informal foodservice providers in Kumasi, Ghana. Methods Eighty-one (81) foodservice providers were conveniently selected from ten different foodservice establishments. KAP on food safety and hygiene practices was assessed with a structured-questionnaire, while practices were observed with a prepared checklist. Food samples were collected and analyzed for microbiological counts (aerobic and coliform) and the detection of Staphylococcus species. Results About 58.7% of participants reported good knowledge versus 41.3% reporting little knowledge; 32.4% reported good attitude versus 67.6% bad attitude, and 54.6% reported good practices versus 43.4% poor practices. More informal foodservice providers (51.7%,34.5%,55.2%) had knowledge (p = .012), attitude (p = .798), and practices (p = .003) of food safety and practices below the 40th percentile than those of formal food service (23.1%,32.7%,19.2%) respectively. Food samples tested recorded high microbial counts for total aerobes and coliform counts and failed to meet ISO, GSA, and FDA safety standards. S. aureus, E. coli, S. epidermidis, and E. faecalis were identified in food samples. A weak, negative correlation (r = −0.231,p < .05) existed between attitude score and S. species present. Conclusions Poor KAP and microbial contamination were observed among food providers although the informal food provision was poorer. Bad attitude by foodservice providers was associated with poorer microbial quality of tested food. Education, monitoring, and stringent enforcement of HACCP are recommended.

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