Abstract
Food safety problems pose a great threat to the health of consumers with the greatest burden in developing countries. Street-vended foods play a key role in providing many urban dwellers with cheap, nutritious, and accessible food, but when prepared in an unhygienic and unregulated environment, they could contribute to increased food safety burden. The study investigated the microbiological recovery of work surfaces and chicken sold in Korogocho and Kariobangi North slums in Nairobi County as well as evaluating vendors' hygiene and food safety practices. This is a cross-sectional study on an exhaustive sample size of 15 vendors, and swabs of the equipment and work surfaces and chicken were taken for microbial analysis. An exhaustive sample size of 15 vendors was selected for the study. The results showed that most vendors operate under unhygienic conditions. Microbial results revealed that raw portions of chicken had the highest contamination with all the four tested microorganisms (p < 0.05). The level of E. coli ranged from 6.42 ± 1.64 to 2.22 ± 1.88; Salmonella spp., 6.42 ± 1.64 to 2.22 ± 1.88; Staphylococcus aureus, 6.92 ± 1.32 to 2.86 ± 1.61; and Campylobacter jejuni, 8.95 ± 0.94 to 4.66 ± 2.67 log CFU/g in raw and cooked chicken samples, respectively. The predictors of E. coli contamination were the presence of pests and flies, unclean vending place, vending environment littered with waste, washing of hands by the vendor, and lack of appropriate clothing among the vendors at R2 of 0.33. The vendor practices and environmental hygiene of the vending place would not significantly (p > 0.05) predict contamination with Campylobacter and Staphylococcus. Consequently, there is a need to regulate the informal food processing and marketing channels, besides trainings, infrastructural development, and code of practice and inspections which are recommended in order to enhance the quality and safety standards of street-vended chicken products.
Highlights
The availability and comparatively low prices of street-vended foods relative to the processed and already-packaged foods have increased their reliability to customers [1]
The 2009 national population census estimated the population of Nairobi County to be over three million, with over half of the population living in slums [18]
Hygiene, and safe handling practices of food should be maintained by all food handlers to avoid microbial contamination of food
Summary
The availability and comparatively low prices of street-vended foods relative to the processed and already-packaged foods have increased their reliability to customers [1] This has increased their popularity and preference by low- and medium-income earners in developing countries [2]. In spite of numerous advantages provided by streetvended foods, they have been reported to present serious safety and health concerns to consumers and food handlers. This is due to their diversity, inadequate food safety knowledge and practices, insufficient basic hygiene, and lack of public awareness [6, 7].
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