Risk-Based School Food Screening For Health Education: Evidence From Palembang

Mega Utami; Faiza Yuniati

doi:10.55227/ijhet.v5i3.1195

Authors

Mega Utami Health Polytechnic of Palembang
Faiza Yuniati Health Polytechnic of Palembang https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9606-6263

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55227/ijhet.v5i3.1195

Keywords:

School Food Safety, Chemical Adulterants, Health Education, Critical Food Literacy, Rapid Screening

Abstract

School food-safety surveillance can provide locally relevant evidence for health education, yet chemical screening and educational practice are rarely integrated. This descriptive field-laboratory study screened risk-targeted snacks from 20 elementary schools in the service areas of Sako and 23 Ilir Community Health Centers, Palembang, Indonesia, during January-July 2026. Three different snacks per school were selected for different analytes, yielding 20 formaldehyde-targeted, 20 borax-targeted, and 20 Rhodamine B-targeted items. Qualitative rapid-test kits were applied after standardized sample preparation, and analyte-specific positive-screen proportions were calculated. Formaldehyde and borax were not detected in any targeted sample. One brightly colored corn ice-cream product screened positive for Rhodamine B, corresponding to 5.0% of the Rhodamine B-targeted group. The pooled operational yield across all 60 assay-specific items was 1.7%, but this should not be interpreted as analyte prevalence. The findings support continued risk-based surveillance, confirmatory testing after positive screens, and locally grounded school health education that teaches students, vendors, and school personnel to distinguish visual suspicion, screening evidence, and laboratory confirmation. Local food-safety data can therefore support critical food literacy without overstating surveillance findings.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Ahmadpour, M., Omidvar, N., Shakibazadeh, E., Doustmohammadian, A., & Rahimiforoushani, A. (2023). Development and evaluation of an intervention to improve food and nutrition literacy among Iranian Kurdish primary school children: An application of intervention mapping approach. Frontiers in Public Health, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.1059677

Aljasir, S. F. (2023). Food safety knowledge and practices among food handlers and consumers in Gulf countries: An integrative review. Global Public Health, 18(1), 2287584. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2023.2287584

Banerjee, S., & Das, P. (2024). Sensitive detection of borax in real food samples by red emissive carbon nanoparticle displaying multiformat compatibility including faraway smartphone based sensing. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 401, 135002. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2023.135002

Barrett, T., & Feng, Y. (2021). Evaluation of food safety curriculum effectiveness: A longitudinal study of high-school-aged youths’ knowledge retention, risk-perception, and perceived behavioral control. Food Control, 121, 107587. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2020.107587

Da Vitória, A. G., de Souza Couto Oliveira, J., de Almeida Pereira, L. C., de Faria, C. P., & de São José, J. F. B. (2021). Food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices of food handlers: A cross-sectional study in school kitchens in Espírito Santo, Brazil. BMC Public Health, 21, 349. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10282-1

Desye, B., Tesfaye, A. H., Daba, C., & Berihun, G. (2023). Food safety knowledge, attitude, and practice of street food vendors and associated factors in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS ONE, 18(7), e0287996. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0287996

Du, R. Z., Zhang, Y., Bian, Y., Yang, C. Y., Feng, X. S., & He, Z. W. (2024). Rhodamine and related substances in food: Recent updates on pretreatment and analysis methods. Food Chemistry, 459, 140384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.140384

Durão, S., Wilkinson, M., Davids, E. L., Gerritsen, A., & Kredo, T. (2024). Effects of policies or interventions that influence the school food environment on children’s health and nonhealth outcomes: A systematic review. Nutrition Reviews, 82(3), 332–360. https://doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nuad059

Elsborg, P., Thorsen, A. V., Ravn-Haren, G., Bonde, A. H., Andersen, S. G., Vermund, M. C., Klinker, C. D., & Stjernqvist, N. W. (2022). Improved food literacy among schoolchildren as an effect of a food camp intervention: Results of a controlled effectiveness trial. Appetite, 169, 105845. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2021.105845

Fappiano, L., Carriera, F., Iannone, A., Notardonato, I., & Avino, P. (2022). A review on recent sensing methods for determining formaldehyde in agri-food chain: A comparison with the conventional analytical approaches. Foods, 11(9), 1351. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11091351

França, F. C. O., Andrade, I. S., Zandonadi, R. P., Sávio, K. E., & Akutsu, R. C. C. A. (2022). Food environment around schools: A systematic scope review. Nutrients, 14(23), 5090. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14235090

Grigsby-Duffy, L., Brooks, R., Boelsen-Robinson, T., Blake, M. R., Backholer, K., Palermo, C., & Peeters, A. (2022). The impact of primary school nutrition policy on the school food environment: A systematic review. Health Promotion International, 37(5), daac084. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daac084

Hadi, H., Triastanti, R. K., Anggraeni, D., Nurwanti, E., Lewis, E. C., Colon-Ramos, U., Kang, Y., Yamaguchi, M., & Gittelsohn, J. (2022). The role of the school food environment in improving the healthiness of school canteens and readiness to reopen post COVID-19 pandemic: A study conducted in Indonesia. Journal of Public Health Research, 11(1), 2287. https://doi.org/10.4081/jphr.2021.2287

Hann, M., Hayes, C. V., Lacroix-Hugues, V., Touboul Lundgren, P., McNulty, C., Syeda, R., Eley, C., Teixeira, P., Gennimata, D., Truninger, M., Knøchel, S., Münter, L., Allison, R., Fehér, Á., Izsó, T., Kunszabó, A., Kasza, G., & Demirjian, A. (2023). Evidence-based health interventions for the educational sector: Application and lessons learned from developing European food hygiene and safety teaching resources. Food Control, 143, 109219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2022.109219

Indriasari, R., Nadjamuddin, U., Arsyad, D. S., & Iswarawanti, D. N. (2021). School-based nutrition education improves breakfast-related personal influences and behavior of Indonesian adolescents: A cluster randomized controlled study. Nutrition Research and Practice, 15(5), 639–654. https://doi.org/10.4162/nrp.2021.15.5.639

Knecht, G. T., Froelich, N., & Campiglia, A. D. (2024). Screening method for the analysis of Rhodamine B in chili powder. Food Chemistry, 447, 138936. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.138936

Kuo, S. C., & Weng, Y. M. (2021a). Effects of food safety education on knowledge, attitude, and practice of schoolchildren in southern Taiwan: A propensity score-matched observational study. Food Control, 124, 107360. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2020.107360

Kuo, S. C., & Weng, Y. M. (2021b). Food safety knowledge, attitude, and practice among elementary schoolchildren in southern Taiwan. Food Control, 122, 107818. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2020.107818

Labbé, C., Ward Chiasson, S., Dupuis, J. B., & Johnson, C. (2023). Effectiveness of a school-based culinary programme on 9- and 10-year-old children’s food literacy and vegetable, fruit, and breakfast consumption. Nutrients, 15(6), 1520. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15061520

Limon, M. R. (2021). Validation of a researcher-developed food safety curriculum guide for junior high school students using Delphi technique. Food Control, 125, 108011. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2021.108011

Omidvar, N., Doustmohammadian, A., Shakibazadeh, E., Clark, C. C. T., Kasaii, M. S., & Hajigholam-Saryazdi, M. (2023). Effects of school-based interventions on food and nutrition literacy (FNLIT) in primary-school-age children: A systematic review. British Journal of Nutrition, 129(12), 2102–2121. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007114522002811

Rachmadewi, A., Soekarjo, D., Maehara, M., Alwi, B., Mulati, E., & Rah, J. H. (2021). School canteens in selected areas in Indonesia: A situation analysis. Food and Nutrition Bulletin, 42(2), 225–246. https://doi.org/10.1177/03795721211008021

Rahman, M. B., Hussain, M., Kabiraz, M. P., Nordin, N., Siddiqui, S. A., Bhowmik, S., & Begum, M. (2023). An update on formaldehyde adulteration in food: Sources, detection, mechanisms, and risk assessment. Food Chemistry, 427, 136761. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.136761

Rakha, A., Fatima, M., Bano, Y., Khan, M. A., Chaudhary, N., & Aadil, R. M. (2022). Safety and quality perspective of street vended foods in developing countries. Food Control, 138, 109001. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2022.109001

Rifat, M. A., Talukdar, I. H., Lamichhane, N., Atarodi, V., & Alam, S. S. (2022). Food safety knowledge and practices among food handlers in Bangladesh: A systematic review. Food Control, 142, 109262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2022.109262

Roy, M., & Yadav, B. K. (2022). Electronic nose for detection of food adulteration: A review. Journal of Food Science and Technology, 59(3), 846–858. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-021-05057-w

Tadele, M. M., Dagnaw, A., & Alamirew, D. (2022). Food handling practice and associated factors among food handlers in public food establishments of Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Open, 12.https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-051310

Wardani, N., Alahmad, W., Tabani, H., & Varanusupakul, P. (2023). Emulsification liquid-liquid microextraction coupled with droplet digital image colorimetric detection for determination of rhodamine B in food and beverage samples. Advances in Sample Preparation. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sampre.2023.100091