Assessment of the quality and safety of food products in Libreville

Abstract

In Africa and Gabon particularly, rampant urbanization, the increase in female professional activity, the break-up of the classic family model have induced new eating behaviors and consumption patterns. The development of the cold chain promotes the reduction of food losses, the conformity of products to quality requirements, market safety and the improvement of production. The cold chain is therefore an essential factor in food safety. In Gabon, national consumption needs are more or less covered by local production with regard to plantain, cassava, taro, yam and fish products. The coverage rate is zero for rice, wheat, fruit ballast, quite low for vegetables, meat and poultry. So much so that it is common to hear people say in Libreville: “I am going to buy the embalmed, how are we going to do it again?”. FAO 2008 defines food security as a state where "all human beings have, at all times, physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food, enabling them to satisfy their energy needs and food preferences to carry out a healthy and active life » Our non-stratified sample includes teachers and ATOS staff from the ENS Libreville campus. A total of 100 questionnaires are distributed, only 88 are collected for the study. The survey conducted within the premises of the Superior Normal School of Libreville is not statistically representative of the whole country. The limitations of the study are related to its geographical coverage. The approach is based on the place of purchase and the type of purchase. This study shows that respondents determine the quality of what they buy by the eyes, the color, the smell and the place of purchase. As places of purchase they prefer supermarkets (Mbolo, CKDO). Many of them believe that the authorities do not pay enough attention to the quality of food. The objective of this work is to understand the processes that populations bring into play in the development of food quality.