Hubungan Pengetahuan dan Sikap Pedagang Makanan dengan Penggunaan Styrofoam dan Kantong Plastik sebagai Kemasan Makanan di Kecamatan Lubuk Pakam

Abstract

Styrofoam is currently widely used as food packaging which is popular among food traders, even though styrofoam contains chemical compounds that are dangerous and can trigger the formation of cancer cells, such as styrene and benzene. Styrofoam also causes problems for the environment because it is difficult to decompose and recycle. Besides styrofoam, another material that is widely used as food packaging is plastic bags. Plastic bags are one type of plastic that is often used for single use, excessive use of plastic bags can be bad for health and the environment. The purpose of this study was to analyze the knowledge and attitudes of food vendors using styrofoam and plastic bags as food packaging in Lubuk Pakam District. This type of research is a quantitative study with an analytic observational research design, and uses a cross sectional approach. The number of samples is 65 people. Samples were taken by total sampling method. The results of the study based on univariate analysis showed that the most respondents were 40-50 years old, namely 34 people (52.3%), the most respondents were female, namely 59 people (90.8%), and the most respondents were high school graduates. namely as many as 45 people (69.2%). Based on the bivariate analysis, the results showed that there was a relationship between the knowledge of food vendors and the use of styrofoam and plastic bags as food packaging with a P value of 0.005 (<0.05). Likewise, there is a relationship between attitudes and the use of styrofoam and plastic bags as food packaging with a P value of 0.006 (<0.05). Food traders should replace styrofoam with safer packaging such as leaves, paper or cardboard. It is necessary to carry out regular counseling and monitoring by the Deli Serdang District Health Office or related parties regarding the use of styrofoam as food packaging. So it is expected to increase the knowledge and understanding of food vendors about Styrofoam which will ultimately increase the use of Styrofoam by respondents for the better.