Food Safety Practices and Population Perception Regarding Street Food Vendors in Hyderabad, Pakistan

The study was conducted in district Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan and for this two sets of questionnaires were developed each for food vendors (40) and population using street foods (40). All respondents were randomly selected and interviewed. The study revealed that all the vendors were male (100 %). Among the vendors, 95% were literate (at least primary education) and 50% were ≤ 30 years. Food safety related training was not received by any vendor in study area. A significant majority of vendors did not know about good handling practices (GHP) and good manufacturing practices(GMP) i.e. 52.5 and 45%, respectively, while an overwhelming majority (80%) was familiar to food borne illnesses (FBIs). Most vending carts were in poor hygienic condition (72.5%), infested with flies (97.5%)and only 32.5 % vendors were in clean clothes. Some vendors experienced infectious diseases like, hepatitis (5%) and tuberculosis (7.5%). In case of population using street vended foods, only 5% were satisfied with hygienic condition of food vendors, quality of raw material (10%), serving utensils (7.5%) and food freshness and purity (15%), therefore, significant majority (87.5%) of population using street foods experienced FBIs. Meanwhile, main reasons for consuming street food were low food cost (90%), ease (85%) and palatability(75%).Significant associations (p < 0.05) were observed between vendors’ demographics (age and education) and their vending practices, while highly significant associations (p < 0.05) were recorded between street food users’ education and perceptions. In vendors’ self-reported analysis, average valuefor vendors’ knowledge remained 7.75, vendors’ attitude stayed 23.18,while average value for vendors’ food safety practices was recorded as 6.51. Study concludes that venders’ food safety knowledge and practices are poor, therefore, population using street foodsare not seemed satisfied with safety measures in street food vending.