Food safety practices of cooked food hawkers in Tharaka Nithi County, Kenya

Abstract

Hawking of cooked foods is an important economic activity, especially for low-income earners. However, the trade raises public health concerns particularly due to the likely breaches of food safety standards. Thus, this study investigated the food safety practices of hawkers of cooked foods in Tharaka Nithi County. A cross-sectional study design was used to collect data from 151 respondents using a questionnaire. The other data collection tools included a key informant interview guide and an observation checklist. The mean age of hawkers was 40.25 ± 9.226 years, with 71.5% of them aged between 35 and 59 years. The majority of hawkers were females (77.5%), married (51.7%), had attained secondary level education (55.6%), and earned a daily profit of between Ksh. 501 and 1,000. The hawkers were largely (91.1%) not trained on food safety, did not have a food hygiene license (92.7%), did not wear outer garments (58.9%), and did not have a medical certificate (89.5%). Almost half (54.2%) of the hawkers prepared their foods at home and transported them to hawking sites using public means (52.6%). The majority (86.8%) of hawking sites were makeshift stations and 40.4% of them had reportedly been infested with rodents. Generally, the hawkers did not comply with most of the food safety standards. County government of Tharaka Nithi should therefore design and implement interventions to promote the safety of cooked foods hawked in the county.

Vending environment and hygiene practices of street food vendors in an out of campus food environment in Kenya

“…Many of the vendors were handling food with bare hands, did not cover their food, and did not wear hairnets and aprons, similar findings have been reported elsewhere. 6,18,25 Like in previous studies, many of the vendors did not wash their hands after handling money and yet currency notes and coins have been found to be contaminated with pathogenic bacteria as well as fungi and yeast. 18,26,27 Having uncovered hair is likely to contaminate the SF as hair has been found to harbor Staphylococcus aureus.…”

“…6,18,25 Like in previous studies, many of the vendors did not wash their hands after handling money and yet currency notes and coins have been found to be contaminated with pathogenic bacteria as well as fungi and yeast. 18,26,27 Having uncovered hair is likely to contaminate the SF as hair has been found to harbor Staphylococcus aureus. 28 Coupled with the fact that the SFVs in this study did not practice social distancing, lacked personal protective equipment (PPE), and did not wash their hands, while others were blowing air into the food bags and only 24% were cleaning their work surfaces frequently, showed that they did not follow COVID-19 guidelines that were in place during the study period which exposed their customers to respiratory diseases such as colds and COVID-19.…”

“…These findings are similar to those reported among SFVs in other studies. 18,25,34 In addition, the vending sites in this study had garbage, stagnant water, and accumulated rubbish which are breeding sites for microorganisms that increase the risk of contaminating the SF. 35 These could also explain the presence of rodents and flies in some of the vending sites in this study as garbage and accumulated rubbish are also breeding sites for flies and rodents which have been reported to cause contamination of SFVs in other studies.…”

“…Our study findings resonate well with those of other studies that have found the majority of SFVs are women more so in developing countries. 18,19 Street vending provides a source of income for many in the informal sector more so for women who depend on this sector for their livelihoods. 20,21 Street vending enables women to contribute to their household income contributing to the alleviation of household poverty as well as food insecurity.…”

“…5,38,39 Female SFVs were more likely to have sub-optimal food handling environment and unsanitary vending environment as seen in the current study which is likely to expose the food to contamination as previous studies have reported that female SFVs are more likely to sell contaminated food compared to male SFVs. 18,40 This exposes the consumers to contaminated SFs and hence the need to enforce these regulations to ensure safe and clean vending environments by SFVs and safe food for the consumers.…”