Food Safety and Hyienic Practices of Street Food

DISCUSSION

The street food market plays a crucial role in developing nations in satisfying the food demands of the urban occupants. Street foods feed countless people daily with a large range of foods that are fairly cheap and quickly available (Latham, 1997). However there are substantial reports of health issue that have actually been related to these street foods(Muleta and Ashenafi (2001 ); Ashenafi (1995 ); El-Sherbeeny et al (1985 ); Abdussalam and Kaferstein, (1993 ); Mensah et al (2002) and Omemu and Aderoju (2008 ). Street foods are sources of nutrition for numerous low-income groups at budget friendly costs in big urban areas.

Nevertheless, there are also several health hazards associated with them. These foods could be main lorry for transmission of severe and deadly diseases that might be harmful.

Contamination of these foods could result from pre or post cooking contamination from the food handlers. Street food vendors are often unlicensed, untrained in food safety, food hygiene and sanitation, and work under crude unsanitary conditions (FAO 1990). Muinde and Kuria (2005) in their study in Nairobi, Kenya found that over thirty-five percent of the vendors belonged to the age category of 20-25 years.