College of Health Sciences

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Browsing College of Health Sciences by Author "Acheampong, Boateng Emmanuel"

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    Assessment of food hygiene practices by street food vendors and microbial quality of selected foods sold. A Study at Dunkwa-On-Offin, Upper Denkyira East Municipality of the Central Region.
    (NOVEMBER, 2014) Acheampong, Boateng Emmanuel
    Globally, the estimated amount of food found to be contaminated from street vendors particularly in developing countries is on the ascendancy. It is however unclear, the contribution unhygienic practices make to food contamination. This study sought to assess knowledge and practices of food vendors as well as the microbial quality of selected food sold by street food vendors in Upper Denkyira East Municipality in the Central region of Ghana. The study was cross sectional and systematically recruited 423 food vendors using a systematic sampling method. A structured questionnaire was administered and an observational checklist was used to gather data on the environmental and personal hygiene status of food vendors. Data collected on 423 respondents were entered into an SPSS version 16.0 software, edited and subsequently used for multivariate analysis. The Student t-test was used to compare continuous variables and the Pearson Chi-square test for discrete variables. Logistic regression was done to establish association between variables and food contamination. This study among other findings showed that there was a statistically significant association between considerations for choosing food stuff, where food is prepared, medical examination of food vendors, constant supply of water, use of food additives and microbial quality. There was also a significant association between place of storing cooked food, frequency of washing eating plates, frequency of changing water for washing plates and microbial quality. It was also observed that 84.0% of food vendors used the same hands to serve and collect money, 30.3% had not been given certificate to sell and 89% used their bare hands to serve or dish out food. The study revealed that of the 216 food samples collected, fecal coliforms were isolated in 128 (59.3%), v Escherichia coli in 90 (41.7%), Salmonella typhi in 26 (12.0%) and Staphylococcus aureus in 134 (62.0%). The study confirmed that there was a problem with contamination of street foods within Dunkwa-On-Offin and regular training and medical examination of street food vendors within the municipality should be done to ensure food hygiene.