Practices of Food Safety and Hygiene Among Street Food Vendors in Dhaka

Abstract

Street food plays a significant role in Dhaka's culinary landscape, catering to its inhabitants' diverse tastes. However, concerns regarding food safety and hygiene practices among street food vendors persist. This study aims to assess food safety and hygiene practices among street food vendors in Dhaka. A mixed-methods approach, including surveys and observational assessments, was employed to gather data on vendors' practices towards food safety and hygiene. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 300 street food vendors from March 2024 to June 2024. Data were collected through personal interviews and observation through a structured questionnaire. SPSS, MS Excel, CSV, and other tools were used to compare the variables. Results indicate a varied adherence to food safety measures, with a notable gap in hygiene practice. While vendors generally possess adequate knowledge of food safety practice, implementation in practice often falls short due to various factors such as lack of resources, infrastructure, and awareness. The cross-tabulations of different variables to examine the relationships between five attributes (Gender, Age, Education, Work Experience, and Monthly Income) and ten additional attributes were done to analyze the food vendor workers hygiene practices. Some bar graph was used to visualize the data. The results show that 43.6% have no formal education, 33% never wash their hands properly, 88% never clean utensils, 56% never wear gloves, 81% never use soap, 89% reuse oil, 67.67% do not clean their work area, 82.33% work with diarrhea, among them 59.67% of food vendors suffer from some infectious disease, 65.67% of vending site conditions are dirty, 97% of street food vendors have no food safety training.