Assessment of Food Hygienic and Vending Practices among Street Food Vendors in Buea and Kumba City Council (South-West Region Cameroon)

Abstract

Street food vending is one of the major activities in the large informal food sector of most developing countries especially in urban centers. It has become an omnipresent activity especially influenced by urbanization and globalization. Street foods play an important role in meeting the food demands of urban duellers, especially the urban poor though their hygiene is very doubtful. While this development is positive in many ways, it also presents new public health challenges for the urban population. This work aimed to evaluate the basic characteristics of street food services and hygienic condition of the processing and distribution of street food. A cross sectional study approach was adopted focusing on some vending sectors in Buea and Kumba. Random samplings of 80 vendors were used and questionnaires were administered to vendors. The results showed that women dominate street food vending amongst all age groups. Most of street vendors have a low educational level and do not have any formal food safety training which contributed to the unsafe conditions under which the foods were prepared and vended. There were several poor personal hygienic practices amongst the vendors. Only 28.8 % always used aprons; 22.5 % always covered their hair and 18.8% always kept away from food preparation and vending when sick or having a wound. Street foods are good sources of diseases as the government pays in less attention to the sector. The study recommends the creation of food centers, regulation of vending activities by the government and development of training programs to enrich vendors on food safety and hygiene.