Food hygienic practices and associated factors among street food vendors in Bishoftu town, central Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND

Poor food hygiene practices in developing nations like Ethiopia pose a significant public health threat by increasing the likelihood of food-borne infections. In the study area, there is a lack of comprensive information regarding the hygienic standards and associated factors influcncing the food hygienic practices of street food vendors. Therefore, this study aims to assess food hygienic practices and related variables among street food vendors in Bishoftu town, central Ethiopia.

METHOD

A cross-sectional study was conducted from June 16, 2023 to August 16, 2023, involving 210 street food vendors selected through a simple random sampling technique. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews and analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21. Descriptive statistics like mean, frequency, and percentages were used. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the significance of the relationship between each independent and dependent variables. The strength of the association was calculated using adjusted odds ratio (AOR) and the 95 % CI and a p-value of 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

The finding of this study revealed that about 64.8 % and 35.2 % of the street food vendors had good and poor food hygiene practices, respectively. Variables such as being female [AOR = 0.191, 95 % CI (0.043, 0.840)], having rich experience in food vending [AOR = 5.793, 95%CI (1.419, 23.649)], maintaining a clean environment [AOR = 2.860, 95%CI (1.484, 5.512)], and possessing knowledge of food hygiene [AOR = 2.726, 95 % CI (1.317, 5.643)] were significantly associated with the food hygiene practices of street vendors.

CONCLUSION

The level of food hygiene practice observed among street food vendors in the study area was lower compared to other study findings conducted in different regions of Ethiopia. Significant factors influencing these hygiene practices were sex, food vending experience, environment, and knowledge. Therefore, current national regulations must be revised to address the existing gaps and enhance food safety procedures for street food vendors nationwide.