In the present study, natural antimicrobials chitosan and thyme, and their combination, were evaluated for their effect on the shelf life of a ready-to-cook (RTC) chicken-pepper kebab (skewer) stored under modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) conditions at 4 ± 0.5°C for 14 days. The following treatments were examined: control samples stored under aerobic packaging (A), samples stored under MAP (M), samples treated with 1.5% chitosan (vol/wt) and stored under MAP (M-CH), samples treated with 0.2% thyme essential oil (vol/wt) (M-T), and samples treated with 1.5% chitosan (vol/wt) and 0.2% thyme essential oil (vol/wt) and stored under MAP (M-CH-T). Treatment M-CH-T significantly affected aerobic plate counts and counts of lactic acid bacteria, Pseudomonas spp., Brochothrix thermosphacta, Enterobacteriaceae, and yeasts and molds during the entire storage period. Similarly, lipid oxidation of the RTC product was retarded (M-CH-T treatment) during storage, whereas redness was maintained in M-T, M-CH, and M-CH-T samples. Based primarily on sensory data (taste attribute), M-CH and M-T treatments extended RTC product shelf life by 6 days, whereas M-CH-T treatment resulted in a product with a shelf life of 14 days that maintained acceptable sensory characteristics (shelf life of the control was 6 days).

Purpose: In many developing countries, the main source of food related illness is the fast foods restaurants. Health inspections of fast-food restaurants may not be sufficient to ensure and enforce the food safety regulations. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of fast food handlers in Qatar. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 102 fast-food handlers through a structured survey. The questionnaire comprised questions on food safety KAP. The association between scores for KAP among the food handlers was measured with Spearman’s rank correlation. Findings: A significant direct association was found throughout the different criteria of food safety KAP. In total, 90 percent of fast food handlers had undergone formal training on food safety. Although fast food handlers thought they had overall good knowledge on food safety (93.9 percent), results showed that they had a poor knowledge on proper cleaning of equipment, cross-contamination, foodborne diseases, food danger zone and correct procedures for thawing of frozen food. Only (34.7 percent) of the food handlers correctly identified Salmonella as a food pathogen. Originality/value: Based on the current findings, the authors believe that continuous food safety and hygiene training should be implemented in all food service operations especially in fast-food restaurants in Qatar to ensure that all food handlers have the knowledge and the skill to provide safe food.