Abstract
With the booming street food industry in the developing world there is an urgent need to ensure food vendors adhere to hygienic practices to protect public health. This study assessed the adherence to food hygiene practices by food vendors in educational institutions in Konongo, Ghana. Structured questionnaires, extensive observation and interviews were used for the study involving 60 food vendors from 20 basic schools. Attributable to the influence of school authorities and the level of in-training of food vendors, the study points out that food vendors in educational institutions generally adhered to good food hygiene practices, namely, regular medical examination (93%), protection of food from flies and dust (55%); proper serving of food (100%); good hand hygiene (63%); and the use of personal protective clothing (52%). The training of food vendors on food hygiene, instead of the level of education had a significant association (p < 0.05) with crucial food hygiene practices such as medical examination, hand hygiene and protection of food from flies and dust. Further, regulatory bodies legally mandated to efficiently monitor the activities of food vendors lacked the adequate capacity to do so. The study proposes that efforts should be geared towards developing training programmes for food vendors as well as capacity building of the stakeholders.
Highlights
Street foods are very well patronized in many developing countries since they are affordable, accessible and serve as an important source of income [1,2]
The study found that food vendors in educational institutions generally adhered to good food hygiene practices with regards to regular medical examination, protection of food from flies and dust, serving of food, hand hygiene and use of an apron
The study pointed out that there is no significant association (p > 0.05) between the vendors’ level of education and their acceptance to undergo medical examination and no statistically significant relationship was found between the education level and food hygiene practices
Summary
Street foods are very well patronized in many developing countries since they are affordable, accessible and serve as an important source of income [1,2]. Food-borne illnesses are a growing public health concern worldwide and results from food contaminated by pathogenic microorganisms, mycotoxins or chemical hazards [3]. The problem is exacerbated in developing countries due to economic reasons, poverty, the lack of adequate health care facilities, and the dearth of data regarding food-borne diseases. The incidence of food- and water-borne diseases is estimated at 3.3–4.1 episodes per child per year in Africa and food and water-borne diarrhoeal diseases are estimated to cause between 450,000–700,000 deaths in Africa annually, with many more sporadic cases going unrecorded [6,7] In most of these cases, pathogens such as Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, Salmonella, Hepatitis, Shigella, Brucella, Staphylococcus aureus, Campylobacter, rotavirus and enteric bacteria are identified [1,2]. In Ghana, as well as in many countries in the African region, there is an abundance of national legislation but limited resources to control street food safety [1].
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