Appraising the Knowledge and the Practice of Food Safety Procedure and Hygiene among Food Vendors in Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study aims to appraise the knowledge and the practice of food safety procedure and hygiene among food vendors in Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo State, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey design for the investigation. The sample for the study consists of two hundred and sixty (260) food vendors operating in the study area. A multistage sampling technique was used to select participants from the study population. Primary data were collected through structured questionnaire and both descriptive statistics (frequency table, proposition, and percentage, and inferential statistics, chi-square) were used for data analysis. Secondary data were sourced from relevant journals, articles government documents, food vendors, associations’ publications and internet materials. The result of the findings showed that majority of the respondents have good knowledge about food safety procedure and hygiene. With respect to the level of practice of food safety procedure and hygiene, majority of the respondents poorly complied with food safety procedure and hygiene in Akure South Local Government. The study further revealed that the government approaches and land enforcement strategies to ensure food safety still remain uncoordinated and had not achieved the desired results. The research also showed that there is a significant association between knowledge of the respondents and food safety procedure and hygiene (r = 12. 39, p < .000). However, there is no significant association between the level of practice of food vendors and the food safety procedure and hygiene (r = 11. 02, p = 0.222). The study found that food vendors in Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo State had good knowledge of food safety procedure and hygiene, but poor practice. It is recommended that government at all levels take coordinated steps to improve food stall operating conditions such as providing portable water, cleaner environment, efficient waste collecting system and enforcement of food safety regulations.