Socio-Economic Profile, Knowledge of Hygiene and Food Safety Practices among Street-Food Vendors in some parts of Accra-Ghana (original) (raw)
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Advances in Public Health
Street foods have become a major source of cooked food for most households and individuals in many developing countries including Ghana. However, the rising concern about food-borne illness has questioned the knowledge of the street food vendors to constitute safety practices for food handling. This study assessed the knowledge of street food vendors on food safety and food-handling practices in the Ejisu-Juaben Municipality of Ghana. The study used a cross-sectional mixed approach involving 340 participants selected by simple random sampling. A structured questionnaire and an observational checklist were used to collect data and analyzed using STATA version 12. The results indicated that 98.8% of the food vendors had good knowledge on food safety and handling. The knowledge on food safety was associated with training (p value ≤0.011), license status (p value ≤0.002), marital status (p value <0.001), and religion (p value ≤0.038). Good food-handling practices were associated with...
Food Safety Knowledge and Practice of Street Food Vendors in Rural Northern Ghana
Food and Public Health, 2014
Food safety amongst street food vendors is becoming a major public concern especially in urban areas of the developing world where this industry is expanding rapidly. There is rarely any information on street food safety issues in rural northern Ghana where this industry is equally growing rapidly. We therefore conducted this study to assess the knowledge level and evaluate food safety and hygiene practices amongst street food vendors in a rural district of northern Ghana. A cross sectional study was carried out in the Nadowli district where 200 street food vendors were randomly selected from of both densely and none densely populated areas of food vendors. Knowledge level amongst vendors concerning food safety practices was 100%. Although over 96% washed their hands after some major activities, about 13% of them did not use soap. The main storage forms of leftover foods were consumption by friends and family members (13%), reheating (13%) and refrigeration (11.5%). Water storage containers were also found to be used for other activities. 71% of the vendors had undergone medical screening despite a high knowledge level (100%) of its importance. Street food vendors in this rural northern setting generally have a high knowledge level on food safety issues but however do not translate this knowledge into practice.
Public Health Research, 2018
Food safety has become a major public health concern globally as street food vending is a rapidly growing industry in both developed and the developing world. An increasing incidence of diarrhoea cases in Ghana is attributable to unhygienic street food vending. This study was carried out to assess knowledge and practices regarding food safety among cooked food vendors. The research design was a cross-sectional study. A sample size of 81 food vendors was selected. Data was collected using questionnaire. Results showed that 98.9% of the respondents were females. Majority of the food vendors had some knowledge on food safety and hygiene and knew that diarrheal diseases could result from food contamination and/or poisoning. 98% of the respondents said hand washing was necessary at all times but, only 13.6% washed their hands all the time and out of this only 45.5% washed their hands always with soap and running water. Only 21% store leftover foods in the refrigerator whilst 41% store fo...
Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine, 2021
Background: Food safety and hygiene are currently a global health apprehension especially in unindustrialized countries as a result of increasing food-borne diseases (FBDs) and accompanying deaths. This study aimed at assessing knowledge, attitude, and hygiene practices (KAP) of food safety among street-cooked food handlers (SCFHs) in North Dayi District, Ghana. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted on 407 SCFHs in North Dayi District, Ghana. The World Health Organization's Five Keys to Safer Food for food handlers and a pretested structured questionnaire were adapted for data collection among stationary SCFHs along principal streets. Significant parameters such as educational status, average monthly income, registered SCFHs, and food safety training course were used in bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models to calculate the power of the relationships observed. Results: The majority 84.3% of SCFHs were female and 56.0% had not attended a food safety training course. This study showed that 67.3%, 58.2%, and 62.9% of SCFHs had good levels of KAP of food safety, respectively. About 87.2% showed a good attitude of separating uncooked and prepared meal before storage. Good knowledge of food safety was 2 times higher among registered SCFHs compared to unregistered [cOR=1.64, p=0.032]. SCFHs with secondary education were 4 times good at hygiene practices of food safety likened to no education [aOR=4.06, p=0.003]. Above GHc1500 average monthly income earners were 5 times good at hygiene practices of food safety compared to below GHc500 [aOR=4.89, p=0.006]. Registered SCFHs were 8 times good at hygiene practice of food safety compared to unregistered [aOR=7.50, p<0.001]. The odd for good hygiene practice of food safety was 6 times found among SCFHs who had training on food safety courses likened to those who had not [aOR=5.97, p<0.001]. Conclusions: Over half of the SCFHs had good levels of KAP of food safety. Registering as SCFH was significantly associated with good knowledge and hygiene practices of food safety. Therefore, our results may present an imperative foundation for design to increase food safety and hygiene practice in the district, region, and beyond.
Journal of Natural Sciences Engineering and Technology
Street food has been implicated in adverse health outcomes among consumers. The safety of food and hygiene practice of street food vendors are major contributing factor to these health outcomes. This study was carried out to assess food safety and hygiene practice of street food vendors in Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was adopted. A validated interviewer-administered structured questionnaire adapted from Nutrition related knowledge, attitude and practice questionnaire was used to obtain information from 50 respondents. Information obtained are: personal and socio-economic characteristics, food safety, personal hygiene, food hygiene and sanitary, water sanitation and environmental sanitation practices. Chi-square test was used to determine association among variables at p<0.05 using statistical package for social sciences. All the respondents were females, 68% were within 30-49 years, about half 52% were literate and earn...
African Journal of Food Science
This study assessed various factors associated with poor compliance of street food vendors to safety measures in the Techiman Municipality with emphasis on the World Health Organization's five keys to safer food policy. Two sets of questionnaires were designed to collect data from 150 respondents (140 food vendors and 10 officials of the Environmental Health and Sanitation Agency) in the Techiman Municipality. Data was collected based on the level of awareness, food hygiene/handling practices and effectiveness of regulatory bodies in the Techiman municipality. Overall, awareness of food hygiene was high (91.4%) and depended on vendor's educational level (Chi-square = 7.810, P<0.05). The ability to maintain a clean food preparation area was generally poor. Most food vending sites (68%) were dirty and most respondents disposed of their waste in polythene bags (56.4%). Only a few food vendors washed their hands after scratching themselves (32%) or handling money (22%). Separation between raw materials from cooked food was also poor. Overall, 25% of the vendors always stored raw and cooked food separately, 29% stored them separately sometimes, while 47% did not. Food was however kept at safe at temperature 82%. The hygiene and safety of raw materials used in cooking was in doubt. Most food vendors (69%) considered price important and purchased cheap raw materials. Finally, the effectiveness of regulatory bodies was generally fair (50%). This might be a result of some challenges faced by regulatory bodies in terms of logistics and resources (90%) and also lack of cooperation from food vendors (10%). The study concluded that there is high awareness of food safety among food vendors in the Techiman municipality. Yet food hygiene and handling practices are poor. This might be due to challenges faced by food vendors in terms of finances (65.7%) and pressure from consumers (34.3%). There is also poor regulation by regulatory bodies which might also be due to a lack of logistics and resources (90%). Current regulations in the municipality regarding general food hygiene practices should be reviewed and strengthened to focus on a risk based approach.
2020
Background: Street vended foods are booming businesses in developed and developing countries as most people opt for street foods. This is mainly due to cost and convenience. Food handling practices have been associated with food safety. Where food safety is compromised, food borne illnesses are likely to occur. Objective: This study sought to investigate the level of awareness on hygiene and the respective food handling practices among street food vendors in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Materials and methods: This study used a cross-sectional descriptive survey with a target population of 410 food vendors in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Data was collected using questionnaires. Correlation between food vendors‟ level of awareness and hygiene practices was done using chi-square. Results: Results show that majority of vendors (42.1%) were in the middle age group between 26 to 35 years. The female vendors were more than their male counterparts. Majority of vendors were married (53.4%) and were ...
Food Hygiene Awareness, Processing and Practice among Street Food Vendors in Ghana
Food poisoning and other food borne diseases could occur through poor hygiene practices, especially in areas where food and drinks are served. In most cities around the world, selling of whole meals on the streets is an important means to generating income. Unfortunately, the emergence of informal food businesses can cause health problems if the foods are not prepared and handled under hygienic conditions. Therefore, there is a need to look into the operations of food vendors to ascertain whether they are adhering to proper hygiene practices. The study was descriptive cross-sectional in design with a Multi-stage sampling technique applied in selecting 266 food vendors. Study specific structured questionnaires were used in the data collection. Data were entered into statistical product and service solutions version 20 for analysis. Absolute and relative frequencies were displayed using tabulations. Chi-square test was done to ascertain the associations between the practice of food hygiene and various explanatory variables. Multiple logistic regressions were used to test the strength of associations between various variables and the outcome variable. There was almost a universal awareness of food and personal hygiene among vendors (90%). As a result, a greater percentage of the vendors adhered to basic hygiene practices (87%). The study found that storage of food for resale (Chi-square=256.329, p-value<0.001) and the use of hand in serving food, (Chi-Square=17.035, P<0.001) were the main predictors of food hygiene practice among vendors. After controlling for confounders through adjusted odds ratios, only awareness that the source of water can contribute to food hygiene, was a determinant of food hygiene practice (OR 0.548, CI 0.316-0.948). In assessing the frequency of hand washing, majority (44%) washed hands every 20-30 minutes, and 42% at each serving. Those who washed every 1hour were 14%. Considering that a percentage of vendors are yet to adopt basic hygiene practices, it will be prudent to ensure continuous education and enforcement of policy regulations within the food industry.
Food handlers play a very important role in ensuring food safety and hygiene. This survey attempt to assess the practice of food safety and hygiene by food vendors. Questionnaires were administered to 200 respondents drawn from Jos by purposive and convenience sampling. The average age of respondents is 25 years with women constituting majority (76%). Majority (81.5%) of the respondents had no training on food preparation and handling. Seventy-five percent of the untrained food vendors do not practice proper food handling. Furthermore, 11% of the respondents had no formal education. A null hypothesis raised and tested at significant level of 0.05 indicated that a significant relationship exist between training and practice of food hygiene and safety principles. It was concluded that respondents' knowledge about food safety and the practice of food safety and hygiene are low. Therefore government should organise a special training program for food vendors in order to ensure food safety and hygiene and should also institute a modality for regular monitoring of food vendors.
Journal of Nutritional Science
Increasingly most people have their meals outside their homes and are vulnerable to illnesses caused by unsafe foods. Unsafe food preparation and supply by vendors have made food safety a concern for public health. The present study evaluated the nutrition knowledge, attitude and food safety and hygienic practices of street food vendors (SFVs) in Northern Ghana. An analytical cross-sectional study design was conducted among 424 SFVs, and the data were collected using questionnaires and observation. The mean ± sd nutrition knowledge score of the SFVs was 7⋅08 ± 1⋅75 in which the majority of the participants (68⋅6 %) knew foods that help fight diseases and build immunity. The mean ± sd food safety and hygienic practice score was 7⋅61 ± 2⋅66 with more than half of the participants reportedly not using hand gloves while preparing and serving food. Factors that were associated with food safety and hygienic practices of the SFVs were level of education (β = −0⋅36, P < 0⋅001), number of...