Pregnant Women’s Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviours on Food Safety: A Cross-Sectional Study

This descriptive cross-sectional study aimed to assess pregnant women’s knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours regarding food safety. It included 216 pregnant women (mean age: 28.5 years) who participated voluntarily. When consuming raw milk, 66.7% boiled it, typically for 10–15 minutes (40.8%). Common thawing methods were the kitchen counter (39.5%) and the refrigerator (33.0%). A total of 84.6% knew that refreezing thawed food is unsafe. Higher education was significantly associated with safer behaviours, such as using paper towels, refrigerating food within 2 hours, and checking expiry dates (p = 0.001; p = 0.001; p = 0.002). The mean attitude score was 50.36 ± 4.63, and 91.2% showed a positive attitude. A weak but significant negative correlation was found between age and attitude scores (r = -0.139, p < 0.05). Multiple regression analysis showed that educational status significantly predicted food safety attitudes, while age did not. In general, food safety practices appeared appropriate, though some risky behaviours persisted due to knowledge gaps. Previous studies have emphasised the importance of food safety awareness among pregnant women while also identifying regional disparities. These findings highlight the potential value of culturally and contextually adapted educational programmes. Addressing basic knowledge deficiencies through targeted training may help improve food safety behaviours.