Multicenter Study of Street Foods in 13 Towns on Four Continents by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Study Group of the International Network of Pasteur and Associated Institutes

Abstract

An international multicenter study of ready-to-eat foods, sandwiches, and ice creams or sorbets sold in the streets and their vendors was carried out to assess the microbiological quality of these foods and to identify characteristics of the vendors possibly associated with pathogens. Thirteen towns in Africa, America, Asia, and Oceania were involved in the study. A single protocol was used in all 13 centers: representative sampling was by random selection of vendors and a sample of foods bought from each of these vendors at a time and date selected at random. Microbiological analyses were carried out using standardized Association Française de Normalisation methods, and the use of a standardized questionnaire to collect data concerning the characteristics of the vendors. Fifteen surveys were carried out, with 3,003 food samples from 1,268 vendors. The proportion of unsatisfactory food samples was between 12.7 and 82.9% for ice creams and sorbets and between 11.3 and 92% for sandwiches. For ice creams and sorbets, the sale of a large number of units (>80 per day) increased the risk of unsatisfactory food by a factor of 2.8 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.5 to 5.1), lack of training in food hygiene by 6.6 (95% CI: 1.1 to 50). and by a factor of 2.8 (95% CI: 1.4 to 5.4) for mobile vendors. These risk factors were not identified for sandwiches, this difference may be due to the presence of a cooking step in their preparation. These results show that the poor microbiological quality of these street foods constitutes a potential hazard to public health, that the extent of this hazard varies between the cities studied, and that vendors' health education in food safety is a crucial factor in the prevention of foodborne infections.

Microbiological quality of hamburgers sold in the streets of Cuiabá - MT, Brazil and vendor hygiene-awareness

“…These results probably reflect the dirtiness of the water used for hand washing by the sandwich makers, insufficient hand washing, insufficiently-heated food, and unsuitable conditions of ingredients storage. Therefore, the likelihood of contamination by fecal Coliforms in the sandwiches sold on Brazilian roadsides is similar to that which occurs in other countries in Latin America (GARIN et al, 2002).…”

O comércio de queijo de coalho na orla de Salvador, Bahia: trabalho infantil e segurança de alimentos

“…Os alimentos vendidos nas ruas constituem uma preocupação de saúde pública, pois, na maioria das vezes, são preparados e vendidos em precárias condições de higiene, podendo conter micro-organismos contaminantes e potencialmente patogênicos, o que coloca em risco a saúde dos consumidores 1,2 .…”

“…Em diferentes partes do mundo, pesquisas com ambulantes que comercializam alimentos têm evidenciado que a maioria dos manipuladores apresenta hábitos higiênicos inadequados e não tem disponível local apropriado para higienização das mãos 1,2,4,33 .…”

Microbiological quality of ready-to-eat foods of Tehran province

“…In the multicenter study of street foods in 13 towns, 41% of sandwich samples did not meet the bacteriological criteria. The proportion of unsuitable samples due to E. coli contamination ranged from 4.5 to 70.2%; the prevalence of B. cereus was between 0.4 and 3% and from 1.9 to 10.1% for S. aureus (Garin et al, 2002). S. aureus was found in only one sample (3 log cfu/g) (2.5%), suggesting that recontamination of food by this organism after cooking was not common.…”