Dear Dr. Arruda,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

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We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

António Raposo

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Journal requirements:

When submitting your revision, we need you to address these additional requirements.

1.  Please ensure that your manuscript meets PLOS ONE's style requirements, including those for file naming. The PLOS ONE style templates can be found at

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2. You indicated that you had ethical approval for your study. In your Methods section, please ensure you have also stated whether you obtained consent from parents or guardians of the minors included in the study or whether the research ethics committee or IRB specifically waived the need for their consent.

3. Thank you for stating the following financial disclosure:

“Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Espírito Santo (FAPES) (Grant 551/2023 P 2023-RH7P2)”

Please state what role the funders took in the study.  If the funders had no role, please state: "The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript."

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? -->?>

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available??>

The PLOS Data policy

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English??>

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

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Reviewer #1: The manuscript presents a technically sound study investigating behavioral patterns related to food safety and their association with self-reported foodborne illness. The study is well-structured, employs rigorous statistical methods, and provides valuable insights into food safety behaviors. However, certain limitations, particularly in data availability and generalizability, should be addressed.

The study's methodology is appropriate, and statistical analyses have been conducted rigorously. The use of logistic regression, Spearman correlation, and cluster analysis is suitable for identifying behavioral patterns and risk factors. Ethical approval has been obtained, ensuring adherence to research guidelines. However, the reliance on self-reported foodborne illness cases introduces potential recall bias and misclassification risks. Additionally, the study sample is not fully representative, which may affect the broader applicability of findings.

Acknowledge the potential impact of recall bias more explicitly in the discussion.

If possible, provide additional justification for the representativeness of the sample or discuss how future studies could address this limitation.

The conclusions align with the study's results, emphasizing the need for food safety education and intervention programs. However, due to the reliance on self-reported data, a causal relationship between behaviors and foodborne illness cannot be definitively established. The authors correctly acknowledge this limitation, but it should be further emphasized in the discussion.

Consider softening causal language in the conclusion to reflect the observational nature of the study.

Highlight future research directions, such as using objective, clinically/laboratory-confirmed cases to validate findings.

The statistical analysis has been performed rigorously and appropriately. The chosen methods are well-suited for the study objectives and provide meaningful insights into food safety behaviors. No major concerns were found in the statistical approach.

Recommendations:

Provide a publicly accessible dataset containing anonymized individual data points or summary statistics.

If restrictions exist due to privacy concerns, clearly justify the limitations and provide alternative access options, such as upon reasonable request.

The manuscript is written in clear and standard English. The text is generally intelligible, with no major grammatical or typographical errors noted.

The manuscript is technically sound and presents meaningful research findings. However, data availability issues need to be addressed to meet journal requirements. Additionally, some minor revisions in the discussion and conclusion would strengthen the manuscript.

Reviewer #2: This study provides valuable insight into food handling behaviors in Brazilian households and their potential link to self-reported foodborne illness.

The cross-sectional nature of the study limits its ability to establish causality. While it identifies associations between behaviors and self-reported illness, it cannot definitively claim that poor food handling caused these illnesses

Reviewer #3: This study presents a significant advancement in understanding food safety and foodborne illness risk factors by specifically examining household practices in Brazil, an area that has been less explored compared to commercial settings, which dominate the existing literature.

The manuscript appears technically sound, with data supporting the conclusions drawn regarding food safety practices and the incidence of foodborne illnesses among Brazilian households. The statistical analysis is conducted rigorously, employing appropriate methods such as cluster analysis and logistic regression to investigate the relationships between various factors and the self-reported occurrence of foodborne illnesses. While the authors indicate that data underlining the findings will be made available and provide a general availability statement, they do not specify the means by which this data can be accessed, which may limit transparency. The manuscript is presented in an intelligible manner, adhering to academic writing standards with clear articulation of methodologies and findings in standard English. Overall, it effectively communicates its objectives and results to the intended audience.

Note: Please attend to the error in the range given on page 5, line 186.

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what does this mean? ). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy

Reviewer #1: Yes:  Hala Awad

Reviewer #2: Yes:  M. João Lima

Reviewer #3: No

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[NOTE: If reviewer comments were submitted as an attachment file, they will be attached to this email and accessible via the submission site. Please log into your account, locate the manuscript record, and check for the action link "View Attachments". If this link does not appear, there are no attachment files.]

While revising your submission, please upload your figure files to the Preflight Analysis and Conversion Engine (PACE) digital diagnostic tool, https://pacev2.apexcovantage.com/ . PACE helps ensure that figures meet PLOS requirements. To use PACE, you must first register as a user. Registration is free. Then, login and navigate to the UPLOAD tab, where you will find detailed instructions on how to use the tool. If you encounter any issues or have any questions when using PACE, please email PLOS at figures@plos.org . Please note that Supporting Information files do not need this step.

Assessing Food Safety Practices and Foodborne Illness Risk Factors in Brazilian Households

PONE-D-25-15304R1

Dear Dr. Arruda,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

An invoice will be generated when your article is formally accepted. Please note, if your institution has a publishing partnership with PLOS and your article meets the relevant criteria, all or part of your publication costs will be covered. Please make sure your user information is up-to-date by logging into Editorial Manager at Editorial Manager®  and clicking the ‘Update My Information' link at the top of the page. If you have any questions relating to publication charges, please contact our Author Billing department directly at authorbilling@plos.org.

If your institution or institutions have a press office, please notify them about your upcoming paper to help maximize its impact. If they’ll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team as soon as possible -- no later than 48 hours after receiving the formal acceptance. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information, please contact onepress@plos.org.

Kind regards,

António Raposo

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions??>

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? -->?>

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available??>

The PLOS Data policy

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English??>

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #2: This version of the article shows a significant improvement, as evidenced by more fluid writing, with some less dense and more explicit details. It is therefore publishable.

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what does this mean? ). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy

Reviewer #2: Yes:  M. João Reis Lima

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