CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

 The term “street food” refers to a wide variety of ready-to-eat foods and beverages sold and sometimes prepared, in public places. Street  food may be  consumed  where it was  purchased  or  can  be  taken  away  and  eaten  else-where (WHO, 2012). The  established food  safety  know-how among the  surveyed street  food vendors  regarding food contamination,  types  and  symptoms  of  food diseases was significant since several-pathogenic micro-organisms  had  also  been isolated  from  many  street vended foods  (Omemu  et al.,  2005). According to WHO (1989),  food  handling  personnel  play  important  role  in ensuring  food  safety throughout  the  chain  of  food production and  storage.  Mishandling and disregard  of hygienic measures on  the part  of  the food  vendors  may enable pathogenic bacteria to come into contact with and in some cases survive and multiply in sufficient numbers to cause  illness  in  the  consumer.  Tivadar  (2003)  high-lighted  the  increasing  prevalence  of  eating away  from home and the use of partly or fully cooked food. Most of the  vendors  who sold  both  raw  and  cooked  food  items were  not  regulated;  they  operated  haphazardly  without any monitoring of what they prepared and how they pre-pared  it  (Ekanem,  1998;  Abdalla  et  al., 2008b).  Studies carried out in India by FAO (1995) recorded poor knowledge, practices in food handling in the assessment of microbial contamination   of food sold by vendors.

Street food safety remains a major concern in developing countries, including China (Karasavvido, 2005) food culture has a long history of street food. Most cities provide street food for locals and tourists, and street food has become part of the characteristic Chinese culture. Therefore, street food safety has become a matter of safety concern, and has been shown to be served in poor food handling and unsanitary conditions (Samapoundo et al., 2016). Most street food vendors are relatively uneducated and often uninformed, and have little effective regulatory or supervisory oversight (Lues et al., 2006). In some developing countries, high levels of coliform bacteria have been found in street food in several countries (Hanashiro, 2005) and street food has been identified as a common medium for transmission of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens (Guven, 2010).

Furthermore, street foods have now become a major source of food for most homes and individuals especially in developing countries (Amaami et al., 2017). It is consumed by about 2.5 billion people worldwide on daily basis (Njaya, 2014). This is due to busy work schedules and the also due to the fact that street foods are relatively inexpensive, easily accessible, and offer a variety of meals to consumers (Monney et al., 2014).  The street food industry is therefore growing at a very fast rate worldwide (Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations, 2016).

According to the WHO (2015), globally, one out of every ten persons contract food-borne illnesses. Over ninety-one million people including Africa acquire food-borne illnesses every year with resultant deaths of about one hundred and thirty seven thousand. In Ghana, one out of every 40 people is infected with a food-borne disease annually (Ababio and Lovatt, 2015) and results in about sixty five thousand deaths. It is also estimated that the government spends about US $ 69,000,000.00 on food-borne illnesses (Monney et al., 2014).

In Cameroon, street foods create employment, generate income, and acts as a food energy-support instrument to the urban poor (Acho-chi, 2002). However its hygiene is very doubtful. Analysis showed the incidence of foecal-oral parasites among street vendors in

Buea, with 56.7% being infected (Assob et al., 2012). If they do not observe good hygienic food handling and preservation, then vending would become a potential channel for the transmission of food borne diseases as majority of disease outbreaks related to street foods were linked to negligence of food handlers. Many countries do not regulate street food vendors and it is therefore possible to enter into street food vending with a relatively low start-up cost, making this activity attractive to many low income urban residents. Nevertheless, much of the bias against street foods is based more on prejudice than empirical and practices are largely lacking especially in developing countries (Mahon et al., 2010). Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the level of street food vendor’s knowledge on the various methods of food preservation and consequences in poor food handling practices at the Bolifamba health area.

1.2 Problem Statement

1. Largely lacking especially in developing
2. Countries [15, 16]. Street foods are perceived to be a major
3. Public health risk due to lack of basic infrastructure and

Street foods are perceived to be a major public health risk due to lack of basic infrastructure and services, difficulty in controlling the large numbers of food vending operations because of their diversity, mobility and temporary nature (Ghosh et al., 2007). Very little is known about street food consumption and modes of preservation in many African countries despite the fact that the sector plays a large role in national economy in terms of employment and sales of food (Steyn et al., 2011). Although studies on the hygiene and safety of street foods have been carried out in several developing countries, not much has been done in the South-West Region of Cameroon especially in the city of Buea (Kaptso et al., 2021). Consequences that may arise from poor street food handling includes; growth of microorganisms’ leadings to ailments such as; gastroenteritis, food poisoning, and so on. It is on the basis of these prevailing circumstances that it becomes necessary to examine the hygienic and vending practices of street food by assessing vendors’ knowledge on poor street food preservation and its consequence at the Bolifamba Health area, Buea.

1.3 Rational

The Purpose for this study was to examine the knowledge on the various methods of street food preservation and the consequences that may arise when it’s not done properly, thereby by affecting the consumer’s health negatively. While several studies have been carried out on related topics, new studies can be carried out in the hygiene and safety of street food by analyzing food vendors knowledge on the various methods used in preserving and how detrimental to health. According to WHO (2015), there’s an increase prevalence of food-borne diseases which results to death. So, it is relevant and important to examine the knowledge these vendors have on methods of food preservation and their consequences so as to create awareness on food safety leading to the betterment of health. Also, this study can be used as comparative studies and for further research.

1.4 Research Questions

• What knowledge do food vendors have on the methods of street food preservation?
• What are the challenges faced implementing the different methods of street food preservation?
• What are the consequences of poor street food preservation?

1.5 Research Objectives

1.5.1 General Objective

To examine food vendors knowledge on the methods and consequences of poor street food preservation at the Bolifamba Health Area.

1.5.2 Specific Objectives

• To assess food vendors knowledge on the methods of food preservation at the Bolifamba Health Area.
• To identity the challenges faced implementing the different methods of food preservation at the Bolifamba health Area.

To outline the consequences of poor food preservation at the Bolifamba Health Are