Assessment of hygienic practices among food vendors in the Central Business District (CBD) of Cape Coast

Abstract

Background: Food vending activities on the street have become an essential part of the economy of many countries especially developing countries due to its related socio-economic advantages. The food vending sector in this part of the world, specifically Ghana, provides direct and indirect incomes as well as employments for many people across the country. This study was aimed at assessing the knowledge and practice of food hygiene among street food vendors in the Cape Coast metropolis. Methods: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional survey among street food vendors in the Cape Coast metropolis. Questionnaires were used to collect data from 300 street food vendors, which was processed with SPSS version 22 and analysed with STATA version 13. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses were carried out. Specifically, chi squared, binary logistic regression and multivariate logistic regression analyses were run to examine the association between knowledge of food hygiene and practice of food hygiene. Results: Majority (93.3%) of the respondents have knowledge on food hygiene. Level of education was found to be significantly related with knowledge about food hygiene; 18.2 percent of street food vendors with no formal education were found to lack knowledge about food hygiene. About a third (34.3%) of the respondents were found not to be practicing proper food hygiene. While more than two-thirds (68.6%) of females practice proper hygiene, only 47.6 percent of their male counterparts do. In a multivariable analysis, knowledge about food hygiene and sex were found to have significant associations with the practice of food hygiene. Females were found to be more likely to practice food hygiene (OR=2.3; p<0.05; CI=1.1,4.5). Also, food vendors who had knowledge about food hygiene were more likely to practice food hygiene compared with their counterparts with no knowledge (OR=2.9; p<0.05; CI=1.1,7.6). Conclusions: The results of the study revealed that street food vendors in the Cape Coast metropolis, generally, have knowledge about safe hygienic practices. Also, food vendors usually practice safe food hygiene. Knowledge about hygiene, medical screening, inspection by Environmental Health Officers, age and sex are promoting factors to proper hygiene practices by street food vendors within the Cape Coast metropolis.