Background: Food contamination may occur at any point 
during its journey through production, processing, 
distribution, and preparation. The risk of food getting 
contaminated depends largely on the health status of the food 
handlers, their personal hygiene, knowledge and practice of 
food hygiene. Food borne diseases are a public health 
problem in developed and developing countries like Ethiopia. 
Method: A cross sectional study was conducted among food 
handlers in Addis Ababa student’s cafeteria from January to 
May 2013. Structured questionnaire was used to collect socio 
demographic data and associated risk factors. Stool 
specimens were examined for intestinal parasites following 
standard procedures.  
Result: A total of 172 food handlers were enrolled in the 
study. The majority of study participants were females 134 
(77.9%). About 78 (45.3 %) of food handlers were found to 
be positive for different intestinal parasites with the most 
abundant parasite of Entamoeba histolytica/dispar 68(70.8%) 
followed by Giardia lamblia 18(18.8%), Taenia species 
5(5.2%), Ascaris lumbricoides 2(2.1%), Trichuris trichuria 
1(1.1%) and Hookworm 2(2.1%). 
Conclusion: The present study revealed a high prevalence of 
intestinal parasite in asymptomatic (apparently health) food  
handlers.