Research Article
Austin Food Sci. 2021; 6(2): 1046.
Food Safety Practice and Associated Factors among Street Food Vendors in City Administrations of West Gojjam Zone, Northwest Ethiopia, 2021
Chekol C*, Andualem M and Hussien M
School of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia
*Corresponding author: Chalachew Chekol, School of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
Received: September 02, 2021; Accepted: September 29, 2021; Published: October 06, 2021
Abstract
Background: The street foods provide a source of affordable nutrients to the majority of people, especially in developing countries including Ethiopia. But, since street foods are prepared and sold under unhygienic conditions, they are prone to be contaminated. So, vender’s practices towards food safety under this environment should be strictly studied. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the level of safety practice and determinant factors of street food vendors.
Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 422 street food vendors to assess food safety practices and associated factors in City Administrations of West Gojjam Zone from February to March 2021. Epicollect5 software was used for data collection through smart phones. The data was bringing to MS-Excel and then to SPSS version 23 for analysis. Bivariable and Multivariable logistic regression analysis was done to identify associated factors and to control the effect of confounding variables, respectively. Significance of association was identified by p-value of < 0.05 and its strength was described using odds ratio and 95% CI.
Results: Of 422 street food vendors, 418 (99%) responded to the questions. From 418 street food vendors, 418 (100%), 232 (55.51%), 271 (64.83%), 418 (100%) and 361 (86.36%) were females, aged 20-24 years, single, orthodox, and income of 1500-5000 ETB, respectively. About 215 (51.40%) street food vendors had good food safety practice. Primary educational status (AOR=0.57, 95% CI=0.35-0.99), cannot read and write (AOR=0.17, 95% CI=0.08-0.37), monthly income 5001-8500 ETB (AOR=2.57, 95% CI=1.06-6.22), inspection (AOR=3.64, 95% CI=2.05-6.46), training (AOR=3.73, 95% CI=1.94-7.16), vending experience 4-6 years (AOR=1.89, 95% CI=1.14-3.13), vending experience 7-9 years (AOR=3.67, 95% CI=1.21-11.11) and poor knowledge of food safety (AOR=0.48, 95% CI=0.30-0.78) were factors showed statistical significance.
Conclusion: In this study, half of the study subjects were found in practicing a beter way to keep food safety and healthy. Regular training and improving knowledge level, support in improving economic status and inspection are important activities to be held to improve food safety practices of street food vendors.
Keywords: Street foods; Food safety; Food safety practice; West gojjam; Ethiopia
Introduction
Street vended foods are defined as Ready-To-Eat (RTE) foods and beverages that are sometimes prepared by vendors in the streets and other public places, and mostly sold to consumers for immediate or later consumption without any further preparation or processing [1-3]. Street-vended foods include foods as diverse as meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, grains and cereals based ready to eat foods, frozen produce and beverages [2]. However, Street foods, as those are generally prepared and sold under unhygienic conditions, with limited access to safe water, sanitary services, or garbage disposal facilities they are exposed to food poisoning, food borne diseases and food safety problems [2,4]. Most of the foods provided by street vendors are not protected against insects, dust etc., which may harbor foodborne pathogens [5]. The rising concern about food-borne illness has questioned the knowledge of the street food vendors to constitute safety practices for food handling [6]. Food safety problems are particularly becoming an increasingly serious threat to public health in developing countries [7]. Food Borne Diseases (FBD) are an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The burden arising from unsafe food handling and chemical and parasitic contaminants in the food [8]. World Health Organization, Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group (FERG) estimated that 31 Food Borne Diseases (FBDs) resulted in over 600 million illnesses and 420,000 deaths worldwide in 2010 [9]. Studies from different parts of the world approved that street vended foods have remarkable contribution to the increased burden of foodborne diseases. Bacteriological assessments done on street vended food in the globe indicates about 80 - 93% were contaminated with pathogenic bacteria [10,11]. In Ethiopia, as in other developing countries, it is difficult to evaluate the burden of food borne pathogens because of the limited scope of studies and lack of coordinated epidemiological surveillance systems. Under-reporting of cases and the presence of other diseases considered to be of high priority may have overshadowed the problem of foodborne pathogens [12-14]. Unsafe food-production processes and food safety practices aggravate the burden of food borne diseases. To the best of our awareness, food handlers’ safety practices have a great role in the production of healthy food for consumers; so as to minimize the level of contamination and the burden of food borne diseases. In urban areas like City Administrations in West Gojjam Zone, dining outside home in street vendors observed as a common practice among numerous consumers due to increased urbanization, increased number of labor workers and seeking of low cost foods for low income groups. Therefore, the finding of this study is important for respective health offices to know the gap of Street Food Vendor’s on Food Safety practices so as to formulate intervention mechanisms. This research can add new knowledge in the area about the practice of street vendors. The finding also important for health department to plan successful monitoring and evaluation systems of health offices on methods formulated to improving food safety among street food vendors. For researchers, it serves as source of information concerning vendor’s status of practice and factors associated to conduct other researches in the area for the future.
Methods and Materials
Study design and settings
A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess food safety practice and associated factors among street food vendors in City Administrations in west Gojjam zone. The study was conduct from February to March, 2021. The study was conducted in City Administrations in West Gojjam Zone, Amhara Regional State. West Gojjam Zone has 6 city administrations namely Adet, Merawi, Durbete, Bure, Finoteselam and Dembecha city administrations. They all are found about in northwest of Addis Ababa with different distance and to west and South directions from Bahir Dar. The total population in six City Administrations is 164 292, of which about 81 137 are males while 83 155 are females. The out dining establishments observed in West Gojjam are hotels, restaurants, and street/small scale/ food venders. From those establishments, maximum numbers of customers flow to small scale/street/ food vendors due to their fair costly and easily accessibility of those establishments around working areas. The total numbers of licensed street food vendors in those Cities are 1096/Sources: respective City Administrations Trade and Market development office. Due to dramatic increment of unemployment and expansion of urbanization, both the number of street food vendors and the customers for street foods become increased. Shero, Firfir, Pasta, Mekoreni, Tomato, Egg, Ambasha, Vegetables etc… are the common street food types provided by vendors in the study area.
Source and study population
Street food vendors found in City Administrations of West Gojjam Zone are the source population. Street food vendors found in six Cities, which are on work during the data collection time, are the study population.
Inclusion and exclusion criteria
Street food vendors in Dembecha, Finote selam, Bure, Durbete, Merawi and Adet City Administrations were included in the study. Street food vendors who are licensed but not functional due to different reasons during data collection have been excluded from the study.
Sample size determination and sampling procedures
The sample size was determined by using proportion of practice via using single population proportion formula(n= (za/2)2 *p(1-p)/ d2) with the assumptions of 95% CI, 5% marginal error, 53% of the study units have good practice of food safety and 10% non-response rate. Based on this 383 subjects and when add 10 % none response rate the sample units become 422. But since the target population is below 10000, the sample size was adjusted by correction formula N*n/N+n. Then total street food vendors in the study area are 1096, so adjusted sample size was 305. However, in order to increase accuracy and precision, the first sample size as it is (422) was used. List of street food vendors in all six Cities were taken from Trade and Market Development office, Registration and Licensing unit. Then all street food vendors from six/6/ Cities were merged and numbered together. The study subjects then selected by using simple random sampling technique/online random number generator calculator/.
Data collection tools and techniques
Data was collected through a face-to-face interview using structured questionnaires and observational checklists. The questionnaire and checklist designing processes was guided by relevant information from previous literatures and the guidelines provided by WHO regarding street food vending safety practices. The questionnaire and checklist was prepared in English first and then translated into the local language (Amharic) to have a clear and common understanding of all respondents who have been participated in this study. The data collectors and supervisors were degree holder officers/Environmental Health/Sanitary Officers/ in the Health Sector of those City Administrations. Smart mobile was used as a tool for data collection through Epicollect5 Software. The project template was created on Epicollect5 software by the investigator carefully with all required indicators. The purpose and objectives of the study have been clearly explained to each study participants before beginning of data collection.
Study variables
Dependent/outcome variable: Food safety Practice of street food vendors (Good or Poor) Independent variables/study variables Socio demographic variables: Age, Sex, Marital status, Educational status, Religion, Family size and Income level.
Food safety knowledge of street food vendors;
Access to information and regulation variable: Training, Inspection by supervisors, Vending experience, Feedback from customer and Health certificate.
Conditions of vending environment: Availability of Water, Type of water source, Availability of Waste disposal system (Liquid waste disposal system and Municipal solid waste collection) and Availability of latrine.
Operational definitions
Food safety knowledge: The knowledge on food safety was measured by providing 14 questions for the participants. The answers were registered as one for correct responses and zero for incorrect responses. The scores then changed to percent. Vendors who can give true answer for at least 8 or above questions (>50%) have been classified as having good knowledge whereas vendors who can answer 7 or below questions correctly (<50%) was considered as having poor knowledge.
Food safety practice: The food safety practice was assessed by providing 22 questions for participants. Participants practicing correctly were score 1 while those practicing incorrectly were score 0. The result from 22 questions was again changed to 100 (percent). Vendors who are practicing 12 or more correctly (> 50%) have been considered as having good practice while those vendors who are practicing 11 or bellow (<50%) was considered as having poor practice.
Availability of water: Based on WHO guideline for street food vendors, to say there is access for water, the production and sales unit should have their own supplies of potable water whether it is from a central system or an individual source, such as a hand pump [2].
Availability of waste disposal systems:
Liquid waste disposal: Based on WHO standard for street food vendors, to the liquid waste is disposed in appropriate way; it should be emptied into the nearest sewer or drain. Some form of a trap should be used to ensure that only liquid waste is discharged into the sewer or the drain [2].
Solid waste disposal: Based on the standard provided by WHO, solid waste generated from street food production should be kept in covered containers on site to be removed at least once daily by the public garbage collection system provided by the municipalities [2].
Availability of latrine: In small food establishments, the minimum requirement is one toilet for every 30 women and every 60 men employee and customers.
Data quality assurance
Quality of data was assured by designing the template intensively and pre-testing of the questionnaires/template in 5% of participants on street food vendors selected from Jiga town and completeness of the template was assessed before the actual data collection. The data collectors and supervisors were first take training about data collection to have common understanding and let them to practice on Epicollect5 Software until become perfect to collect the required data by already prepared template. At every moment the collected data was uploaded and the supervisors were checking each sample immediately after collection for its completeness. If anything found that to be corrected, then the supervisors were informing the data collector immediately before the completion of data collection.
Data management and analysis
The data collected through Epicollect5 were exported directly to MS-Excel and then exported to SPSS version 23 for analysis. To describe the study subjects, descriptive statistics, including frequencies, mean, standard deviation, and percentage have been used. Bivariable logistic regression analysis was done to identify factors associated with knowledge and practice of food safety and hygiene. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to control the effect of confounding variables. Variables with p-value < 0.05 have considered as statistically significant. The association and its strength also noticed by using odds ratios with 95% confidence interval/CI/. Variables with significant association were identified by the basis of, CI and p-value. Data presentation of the results after analysis has done by using graphs, tables, and narration.
Ethical considerations
Ethical clearance was obtained from Bahir Dar University College of Medicine and Health Sciences Institutional Review Board (IRB). Written permission was also taken from Health and Trade Department in west Gojjam zone, and then oral permission from each City Administration health and trade sector leaders was obtained to get important information and to collect the data. Informed consent was again obtained from each study participant after explaining the objective of the study. All the information about the study participants have been kept in a file without name but a code for each and not be given to anyone except the principal investigator. Participation was voluntary based.
Results
Socio demographic status of street food vendors
About 422 respondents were proposed to participate in the study, but 418 participants were participated which indicates about 99% of response rate. From the total vendors participated, all of them were females in gender and orthodox followers in religion. The age group of 20-24 years was 232 (55.51%) while others were below and above this. Regarding educational level, 171 (40.91%) had primary school education and 361 (86.36%) of the respondents earned 1500 -5000 Ethiopian Birr (ETB) monthly Table 1.
Socio-demographic characteristics
Frequency
Percent
Sex
Female
418
100
Age group /in year/
15-19
34
8.13
20-24
232
55.51
25-29
152
36.36
Marital status
Single
271
64.83
Married
105
25.2
Divorced
42
10.05
Religion
Orthodox
418
100
Educational status
Can’t read and write
68
16.27
Can read and write
43
10.29
Primary level
171
40.91
Can’t read and write
136
32.54
Family Size
3-Jan
404
96.65
6-Apr
14
3.35
Income
1500-5000
361
86.36
5001-8500
51
12.2
8501-12000
6
1.44
Table 1: Socio-demographic characteristics of SFVs in City Administrations of West Gojjam Zone, Ethiopia, 2021.
Access to information and regulations related issues of SFVs
From 418 respondents, 391 (93.54%) did not know the inspectors. Only 105 (25.12%) and 95 (22.73%) street food vendors had been supervised by EHIs and took training on food safety, respectively Figure 1.
Figure 1: Access to Information and Regulation Related Issues of SFVs in City Administrations of West Gojjam Zone, Ethiopia, 2021.
Vending environmental situations of SFVs
All street food vendors have a pipe water sources and some of them are supplemented with spring and river sources. Only 78 (18.66%) street food vendors have functional latrine and venders who did not have latrine their customers used public latrine and shared from their neighbors Table 2.
Frequency
Percent
Nearby water sources
Yes
351
83.97
No
67
16.03
Source of water
Pipe
139
33.25
Pipe, river
175
41.87
Pipe, spring
104
24.88
Functional latrine
No
363
86.84
Yes
55
13.16
If no latrine Where to go to defecate
Public latrine
228
62.81
Share with neighbor
128
35.26
Open field
7
1.93
liquid waste disposal system
Open field
215
51.44
Soak pit
203
48.56
Municipal Solid waste collection
Yes
320
76.56
No
98
23.44
Table 2: Vending Environmental Situations of SFVs in City Administrations of West Gojjam Zone, Ethiopia, 2021.
Knowledge of SFVs about food safety
The level of knowledge about food safety have determined by giving a score as the answer true scored as 1 while answers false scored 0. The maximum knowledge score found was 85.71% while the minimum score was 35.71%. The mean score of knowledge was 57.13% with standard deviation of 13.62 (Table 3).
No
Percent
Wiping Cloths can spread microorganisms
False
317
75.84
True
101
24.16
Refrigeration reduces/inhibits MOs in food
False
31
7.42
True
387
92.58
The same cutting board used for raw foods and cooked foods
False
257
61.48
True
161
38.52
Raw foods stored separately from cooked foods
False
187
44.74
True
231
55.26
Cooked foods do not need to be thoroughly reheated
False
55
13.16
True
363
86.84
Skin infections can contaminate food
False
94
22.49
True
324
77.51
Leaking saliva during holding paper and counting money may contaminant the food
False
280
66.99
True
138
33.01
Mouth, nose and hair should be covered
False
255
61
True
163
39
Food borne diseases causing microorganisms are found every where
False
297
71.05
True
121
28.95
Microorganisms are present on human skin
False
230
55.02
True
188
44.98
Human beings emit microorganisms during sneezing and talking
False
137
32.78
True
281
67.22
Food may be contaminated during sneezing, taking and touching by our hands
False
115
27.51
True
303
72.49
Microorganisms cannot survive in clod and cooked foods
False
206
49.28
True
212
50.72
Leftover foods can cause diseases
False
50
11.96
True
368
88.04
Over all Knowledge level
Good
264
63.2
Poor
154
36.8
Table 3: Knowledge of SFVs about Food Safety in City Administrations of West Gojjam Zone, Ethiopia, 2021. (N=418).
Food safety practice of SFVs
The food safety practice had determined by giving a score as the correct answer scored to 1 while wrong answers scored 0. On this base, the maximum practice score was 77.27% while the minimum score was 31.82%. The mean score of food safety practice was 52.69% with standard deviation of 12.90. Among participants 215(51.40%) vendors have good level of food safety practice while 203 (48.60%) SFVs found to have poor level of food safety practices (Table 4).
No
Percent
Tap/water container to carry water
Correct
414
99.04
Wrong
4
0.96
Basin/sink/bucket for hand wash
Correct
347
83.01
Wrong
71
16.99
Soap for hand wash
Correct
120
28.71
Wrong
298
71.29
Bowl/bucket for utensil washing
Correct
259
61.96
Wrong
159
38.04
Soap to wash utensil
Correct
332
79.43
Wrong
86
20.57
Clean cloth to cover food
Correct
34
8.13
Wrong
384
91.87
Wearing of apron
Correct
160
38.28
Wrong
258
61.72
Separate knife and cutting board
Correct
191
45.69
Wrong
227
54.31
Separate store for raw and cooked food
Correct
149
35.65
Wrong
269
64.35
Utensil and food store 60cm above ground
Correct
60
14.35
Wrong
358
85.65
No crack/scratched on utensil
Correct
294
70.33
Wrong
124
29.67
Hair cover during working
Correct
266
63.64
Wrong
152
36.36
No decored hand nail or jewelries
Correct
177
42.34
Wrong
241
57.66
Short nail and clean hand
Correct
290
69.38
Wrong
128
30.62
Temporary solid waste storage container
Correct
363
86.84
Wrong
55
13.16
Wash hands after money hair skin touch
Correct
110
26.32
Wrong
308
73.68
No fingering nose and ear
Correct
300
71.77
Wrong
118
28.23
No leaking of fingers to pick paper or money
Correct
185
44.26
Wrong
233
55.74
No wiping hands on dirty cloth
Correct
207
49.52
Wrong
211
50.48
No touch inside and rim of cups/glasses
Correct
78
18.66
Wrong
340
81.34
No chewing gum
Correct
337
80.62
Wrong
81
19.38
Store food in refrigerator
Correct
173
41.39
Wrong
245
58.61
Over all practice level
Good
215
51.4
Poor
203
48.6
Table 4: Food safety practice of SFVs in City Administrations of West Gojjam Zone, Ethiopia, 2021.
Factors affecting food safety practices of SFVs
Based on multivariable logistic regression analysis, street food vendors/handlers who had primary level educational and those who can’t read and write were 41.4% (AOR=0.586, 95% CI=0.345-0.993) and 82.9% (AOR=0.171, CI=0.079-0.370) respectively, less likely to have good food safety practice as compared with those who had secondary educational. SFVs who have Average Monthly Income (AMI) of 5001-8500 ETB were 2.6 times more likely to have good food safety practice as compared with those having AMI less than 5000 ETB (AOR=2.566, 95% CI=1.059-6.217). SFVs who have got the chance of inspection, and received training on food safety were 3.6 (AOR=3.639, 95% CI=2.050-6.460), and 3.7 (AOR=3.729, 95% CI=1.942-7.159) times more likely to have good food safety practice as compared with their counterparts food handlers, respectively. The odds of having good food safety practice were 1.9 and 3.7 times higher among SFVs who had vending experience of 4-6 and 7-9 years (AOR=1.887, 95% CI=1.139-3.125; AOR=3.671, 95% CI=1.213- 11.112), respectively, than SFVs having experience of less than 3 years. As well as SFVs who have poor knowledge on food safety were 51.7% less likely to have good food safety practice as compared with SFVs who had good knowledge on food safety (AOR=0.483, 95% CI=0.299-0.780) Table 5.
Variables
Practices
COR/95% CI
AOR/95% CI
Poor N (%)
Good N (%)
Age group
25-29
57 (37.50)
95 (62.50)
1
20-24
127 (54.74)
105 (45.26)
0.496 (0.327 – 0.753)*
15-19
19 (55.88)
15 (44.12)
0.474 /0.223 – 1.005/
Marital status
Single
138 /50.92/
133 (49.08)
1
Married
44 /41.90/
61 (58.10)
1.439 (0.913 – 2.267)
Divorces
21 /50.00/
21 (50.00)
1.038 (0.542 – 1.988)
Educational status
Secondary level
48 /36.09
88 (63.91)
1
1
Primary level
81 /47.37/
90 (52.63)
0.606 (0.382 – 0.962)*
0.586 (0.345 – 0.993)*
Can read and write
23 /53.59/
20 (46.41)
0.474 (0.237 – 0.950)*
0.527 (0.234 – 1.189)
Can’t read
51 /75/
17 (25)
0.182 (0.095 – 0.349)*
0.171 (0.079 – 0.370)*
Family size
1-3
200 /49.50/
204 (50.50)
1
4-6
3 /21.43/
11 (78.57)
3.595 (0.988 – 13.078)
Average monthly income
1500-5000
193 /53.46/
168 (46.54)
1
1
5001-8500
9 /17.65/
42 (82.35)
5.361 (2.535 – 11.339)*
2.566 (1.059 – 6.217)*
8501-12000
1 /16.67/
5 (83.33)
5.744 (0.664 – 49.657)
2.903 (0.290 – 29.112)
Inspection
No
181 /57.83/
132 (42.17)
1
1
Yes
22 /20.95/
83 (79.05)
5.173 (3.073 – 8.708)*
3.639 (2.050 – 6.460)*
Training
No
187 /57.89/
136 (42.11)
1
1
Yes
16 /16.84/
79 (83.16)
6.789 (3.798 – 12.137)*
3.729 (1.942 – 7.159)*
Feedback from customer
No
130 (55.56)
104 (44.44)
1
Yes
73 (39.67)
111 (60.33)
1.901 (1.284 – 2.813)*
Vending experience/yrs/
1-3
142 (59.66)
96 (40.34)
1
1
4-6
53 (34.19)
102 (65.81)
2.847 (1.869 – 4.337)*
1.887 (1.139 – 3.125)*
7-6
8 (32)
17 (68)
3.143 (1.305 – 7.573)*
3.671 (1.213 – 11.112)*
Presence of nearby water sources
Yes
165 (47.00)
186 (53.00)
1
No
38 (56.72)
29 (43.28)
0.677 (0.400 – 1.146)
Types of water sources
Pipe
74 (53.24)
65 (46.76)
1
Pipe, river
85 (48.57)
90 (51.43)
1.205 (0.772 – 1.883)
Pipe, spring
44 (42.31)
60 (57.69)
1.552 (0.930 – 2.591)
Liquid waste disposal system
Soak pit
94 (43.72)
121 (56.28)
1
Open field
109 (53.69)
94 (46.31)
0.670 (0.456 – 0.985)*
Municipal Solid waste collection
Yes
148 (46.25)
172 (53.75)
1
No
55 (56.12)
43 (43.88)
0.673 (0.427 – 1.061)
Knowledge
Good
104 (39.39)
160 (60.61)
1
1
Poor
99 (64.29)
55 (35.71)
0.361 (0.239 – 0.545)*
0.483 (0.299 – 0.780)*
Table 5: Factors associated with practice of food safety of SFVs in City Administrations of West Gojjam Zone, Ethiopia, 2021.
Discussion
This cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the food safety practice and associated factors of street food vendors in west Gojjam zone city administrations, Ethiopia. The quality and safety of street vended foods are of a great concern for public health. Street food vendors feed a large group of population so that the health of those costumers again falls on the hand of those vendors. Due to this, the practice of street food vendors become questioned to constitute safety measures for food handling [6,15]. The level of street food safety practice was found to be approximately consistent with the research findings from Dangila (52.5%) [16], facility based cross sectional study in Gondar (49%) [17], community based study in debark (49.6%) [18]. However, this finding is higher than the findings of cross sectional study conducted in Shashemane (27.5%) [19]. The reason for this variation can be the difference in legality of street food vendors. The study conducted in Shashemane had incorporated informal/not licensed/ street food vendors. Those informal traders are out of regulations and working with very limited dining and cleaning materials which in turn leads for poor safety practices. On the other hand, the practice level in the current study was found to be lower as compared with the research findings from Brazil and study in Vietnam (98.5%) [20-22]. The reason for this discrepancy expected to be geographical difference that is the demographic characteristics observed in Brazil and Vietnam and their level of understanding and controlling systems might have visible difference with our community. Variation in the time of study can also be an important reason for the observed difference since the flow of information and level of understanding are found to be changing through time. In this study concerning personal hygiene, about 61.72% of vendors do not wear protective cloth/apron/, 36.36% do not have hair cover during food processing, 57.66% have decorative on nail and jewelries, 30.62% do not have short nail and clean hand. These findings were found to be lower than findings from research done in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa in which about 95% had uncovered hair, 88.6% of vendors did not wear aprons and 100% of them handled money with bare hands [23]. However, Long nails (20.9%) as well as nail polish (15.5%) were found lower than the report in the current study. These differences might be due to variations in study area (being capital city vs district towns), chance of obtaining training and monitoring and inspection activities from responsible officers. The practice level of vendors on separate storage for raw and cooked foods were only 35.65% which is very low as compared with the finding of a cross sectional study conducted in Brazil (91%) [22] and which is high as compared with the report in Nigeria (12.2%) [24]. Differences on geographic locations, demographic characteristics and awareness of both vendors and customers are the possible reasons for the observed variations on storage activities. Moreover, in the current study higher number of vendors (73.68%) found no to wash their hands after touching money. This finding is lower as compared with the finding conducted in different scholars [15,22,25,26]. The possible reasons for these differences may come from geographical differences, individuals’ perception differences, as well as it may also be affected by customer type. In this study vendors with educational status of primary level and those who can’t read and write were found to be statistically significant with the level of food safety practice. The current report also supported by different scholars that identify education as independent predictor [17,18,27,28]. This comes in line with theoretical truth that education brings a change in thinking and understanding ability on everything in life. In addition, in the current finding SFVs who have average monthly income of 5001-8500 ETB were also found to be independent predictor with food handling practice. Similar studies also described that vendors with better income level have better safety and hygienic practices [17,29,30]. The possible justifications may be SFVs who have better income level can afford to avail different sanitary materials and equipment, these can in turn leads to have good practice. They will also have independent toilet services, access to water and protective equipment. Based on the finding of this research, SFVs having history of supervision/ inspection by EHI and took training about food safety were positively associated with food safety practice. This finding was also supported by former researches [6,26,30]. The possible reasons for these can be; first, inspection by inspectors and training are mechanism to bring improvements from the usual and traditional activities by giving important information about food safety. Second, vendors that do not bring change after comments given during inspection/ supervision can also be exposed for penalty. So the only options they will have are either stopping their business or working based on recommendations given during inspection. This can be improving the practice of food safety practice. Whereas training on food safety provides good information on activities towards food safety and creates motivation to bring with a beter practice. We have also found out that vending/working experience became determinant factor for food safety practice of SFVs. This finding also supported by different articles [17,25,30,31]. It is theoretically acceptable that work experience brings an improvement on usual activities, because individuals can learn from their daily activities as well as from their neighbors. In addition, at each and every day, the customers can give a feedback about what is good and bad which gives a chance to make corrective measures for customer satisfaction. Moreover, knowledge about food safety showed statistically significant association with food safety practice of SFVs. Different research findings also described as knowledge have a significant effect on food safety practice level of vendors [18,30]. Normally, it is the usual truth that if SFVs have good knowledge about food safety and its importance on consumers, it is expected that they can apply in the way of that it could be good. In addition, since it is a business, SFVs expected to do the best as much as they know to attract the customer; as well as to hold their customer for longer period.
Conclusion
More than half of street food vendors had good food safety practice. In the current study educational status monthly income, inspection, training, vending experience and knowledge level on food safety were identified as factors that can determine food safety practices of Street Food Vendors. Vendors with minimum experience and those with lowered startup capital need a special support on food safety activities.
Declaration
Acknowledgement: Our heartfelt gratitude goes to west Gojjam zone livestock resource development department for giving us financial support. Our grateful thanks also go to all the vendors who participated in the study, for their willingness to give the intended information with no hesitation, without which this research wouldn’t have been a reality. I am also grateful to the data collectors, who tried their best during data collection, and checking each questionnaire for completeness.
Authors’ contributions: Conceptualization and design of the study: CC; Data collection and processing: CC, MA; Methodology and data analysis: CC, MA; Project management: CC; Supervising work procedure: MA, MH; Developing a manuscript draft: CC; Reviewing the drafted manuscript: MA, MH; Approval of the submission: CC, MA, MH.
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