Abstract
PurposeFood safety knowledge and hygienic practices by food handlers play an important role in the prevention of contamination of food prepared.Design/methodology/approachThis descriptive survey was conducted in Maseru around the taxi ranks amongst 48 food handlers and 93 consumers using a semi-structured questionnaire for assessing food handler knowledge, attitudes and practices, open-ended questionnaire for obtaining consumer perceptions and observation checklist.FindingsMajority of the food handlers were females (60%) and males constituted only (40%). The mean age was 35.5 ± 10.3 and 28.2 ± 9.9 respectively for street vendors and consumers. There was a statistically significant difference in knowledge among the trained and untrained vendors (p = 0040). On average the vendor population that participated in this study was considered to have poor knowledge (scores < 50%) of food safety since they scored 49% ± 11, while 84% of the respondents were considered to have positive attitudes towards food safety. Only 6% of the consumers reported that they never buy street vended foods mainly due to the hygiene issues. The observation checklist showed that the vendors operated under unhygienic conditions and that there was scarcity of clean water supply and hand washing facilities.Originality/valueThis study provides knowledge that was previously unknown about food vending in Lesotho. It has significantly added to the body of knowledge on food safety in Lesotho which can be used to modify policies and structure food safety training for people involved in the informal trade.
Highlights
Street vended foods can be described as food and beverages prepared and sold in and around public areas in non-permanent structures
This study provides knowledge that was previously unknown about food vending in Lesotho
Such contamination often arises from poor decontamination and/or sanitation, poor cooking methods, direct and indirect contamination of cooked foods by raw foods, and contamination of cooked or raw foods by hands and surfaces contaminated by other sources such as human or animal faeces (Alimi, 2016)
Summary
Street vended foods can be described as food and beverages prepared and sold in and around public areas in non-permanent structures. Serious concerns about the safety of street foods have been escalating because most vendors are poor, uneducated and have little or no regard for food safety (Samapundo et al, 2015) These concerns have been confirmed as studies have shown that street foods may transmit pathogenic microorganisms that inevitably lead to foodborne diseases outbreaks (Imathiu, 2017). A recent study postulated that the prevalence of Shigellosis in children under the age of 5 in Unguja Island, Zanzibar, was attributed to the consumption of street vended food (Marras, 2018) Poor handling practices, such as dishing out food with bare hands, were reported by Hassan and Fweja (2020), who found that a substantial proportion of street vendors (46.4%) attested to handling food in this manner. The daily activities of the food vendors were observed while a large number of consumers’ perceptions regarding the street food trade were elicited
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