Academic literature on the topic 'Street food vendor'

Street food is food obtained from a street side vendor, often from a makeshift or portable stall and it feeds millions of people daily with a wide variety of foods that are relatively cheap and easily accessible. Street food is intimately connected with take-out, junk food, snacks, and fast foods but it is not protected against insects, dust etc; which may harbor foodborne pathogens. Pathogens present in street vended foods come from different sources and practices, such as, improper food handling, improper waste disposal, contaminated water and improper storage temperature and reheating. Food borne illnesses are defined as diseases, usually either infectious or toxic in nature, caused by agents that enter the body through the ingestion of food. Like other African and World countries there are many food vendors in Ethiopia where they sell both raw and cooked food items along the streets of different cities but it is far more unhygienic due to several reasons. So the objective of this review paper was to assess the existing research about street food safety, types, hygiene knowledge, and preparation and forward suggestion for stakeholders/policy makers to bridge the gap. Majority of street vended foods in Ethiopia are contaminated by bacteria like Salmonella, S aureus, E coli so the Government should intervene and solve the issue before it is too late.

Street food vending is a common business practice in most South African cities. However, street vended foods may be a source of foodborne illnesses if their handling is not well regulated and executed. This study aimed to investigate the knowledge and practices regarding food safety by street food vendors in the Polokwane central business district. This was a quantitative descriptive study where a structured questionnaire was used to collect self-reported data from street food vendors. A checklist was used to collect observed data from the vending site on vendor practices and status of the vending environment. A total of 312 vendors participated in the study, most being young females aged below 40 years (62%), single (51.2%) with less than six years of trade experience (58.3%). Although the level of knowledge was high, safe food handling practices were mostly inadequate. Most vendors operated their businesses in the open air and tents (66.2%). Vending experience significantly correlated with safe food handling practices (p < 0.05). It is significantly riskier to sell cooked rather than uncooked food in the street. Lack of resources like water and a healthy environment negatively affected food handling practices. Health promotion on food safety is recommended for street vendors.

Abstract- The existence of food street vendors in Jakarta Indonesia has been regulated by a Governor regulation for its improved management and arrangement in 2015. The food street vendors were unregulated and uncontrollable that disturb other street users, become organized with infrastructure support and empowerment plan from the government. The support structure from the local government is to construct food street courts to give basic facilities required for such business. The evolution from unregulated street vendors to a more organized locus for street vendors was supposed to be supported by empowerment. The study aims to investigate how food street vendors feels in facing the changes of business situation in general. For this purpose, a qualitative method with descriptive approach using observations and in-depth interview with the food street vendors. The findings of the research show that the food street vendors feel more confident in selling their food product whereas they have not implemented hygiene and sanitation as it is supposed to be. Thus, it is recommended to enhance the empowerment plan by looking at closely on the communication media to develop the capacity of the food street vendors.
 Keywords: Food Hygiene; Micro Business; Street Food; Street Vendor Sanitation

Food safety problems pose a great threat to the health of consumers with the greatest burden in developing countries. Street-vended foods play a key role in providing many urban dwellers with cheap, nutritious, and accessible food, but when prepared in an unhygienic and unregulated environment, they could contribute to increased food safety burden. The study investigated the microbiological recovery of work surfaces and chicken sold in Korogocho and Kariobangi North slums in Nairobi County as well as evaluating vendors’ hygiene and food safety practices. This is a cross-sectional study on an exhaustive sample size of 15 vendors, and swabs of the equipment and work surfaces and chicken were taken for microbial analysis. An exhaustive sample size of 15 vendors was selected for the study. The results showed that most vendors operate under unhygienic conditions. Microbial results revealed that raw portions of chicken had the highest contamination with all the four tested microorganisms (p<0.05). The level of E. coli ranged from 6.42±1.64 to 2.22±1.88; Salmonella spp., 6.42±1.64 to 2.22±1.88; Staphylococcus aureus, 6.92±1.32 to 2.86±1.61; and Campylobacter jejuni, 8.95±0.94 to 4.66±2.67 log CFU/g in raw and cooked chicken samples, respectively. The predictors of E. coli contamination were the presence of pests and flies, unclean vending place, vending environment littered with waste, washing of hands by the vendor, and lack of appropriate clothing among the vendors at R2 of 0.33. The vendor practices and environmental hygiene of the vending place would not significantly (p>0.05) predict contamination with Campylobacter and Staphylococcus. Consequently, there is a need to regulate the informal food processing and marketing channels, besides trainings, infrastructural development, and code of practice and inspections which are recommended in order to enhance the quality and safety standards of street-vended chicken products.

PurposeFood safety knowledge and hygienic practices by food handlers play an important role in the prevention of contamination of food prepared.Design/methodology/approachThis descriptive survey was conducted in Maseru around the taxi ranks amongst 48 food handlers and 93 consumers using a semi-structured questionnaire for assessing food handler knowledge, attitudes and practices, open-ended questionnaire for obtaining consumer perceptions and observation checklist.FindingsMajority of the food handlers were females (60%) and males constituted only (40%). The mean age was 35.5 ± 10.3 and 28.2 ± 9.9 respectively for street vendors and consumers. There was a statistically significant difference in knowledge among the trained and untrained vendors (p = 0040). On average the vendor population that participated in this study was considered to have poor knowledge (scores < 50%) of food safety since they scored 49% ± 11, while 84% of the respondents were considered to have positive attitudes towards food safety. Only 6% of the consumers reported that they never buy street vended foods mainly due to the hygiene issues. The observation checklist showed that the vendors operated under unhygienic conditions and that there was scarcity of clean water supply and hand washing facilities.Originality/valueThis study provides knowledge that was previously unknown about food vending in Lesotho. It has significantly added to the body of knowledge on food safety in Lesotho which can be used to modify policies and structure food safety training for people involved in the informal trade.

Street food vending has and is becoming globally a convenient and in most cases an essential service. Lifestyle changes and socio economic factors creates very little space for consumers to look at other alternatives one of which would be to prepare one’s own meal. Street food therefore becomes an easy and economic means to acquire prepared food. Safe hygiene practices should become integral to the vendor as the product will be consumed by people of all ages and many may be vulnerable to poor quality food. The street food vendor in turn relies on this service as a means of employment and income generation. The competition between vendors is increased and the pressure to cut corners becomes a reality and one significant corner is appropriate hygiene practices. The practice of appropriate hygiene practices is also as a result of total ignorance of many vendors and the nature of the food that they prepare. The paper explores lessons from various countries in respect of dealing with ensuring good hygiene practices of street food vendors and its usefulness to the South African perspective. One such initiative is the programme launched by the India’s Food Safety and Standards Authority and the National Association of Street Vendors of India. South African street food industry is rapidly increasing in size and proportion. Several studies have been undertaken to look at this operation from various perspectives including hygiene practices and small business. Employment creation has become a national imperative of the country and small business development is seen as a significant component to employment creation. This paper sets out to establish the global practices in street food vending from a hygiene perspective and its relevance to the South African context.

Foods vended in roadsides of our African cities is a reality and constitute a major problem of public health starting the multiplicity and diversity of microbial flora that they carry. To address these challenges, this study was performed to control the hygienic quality of street foods vended in urban zones of Bukavu city in South Kivu province, DR Congo and assess the potential health risks to consumers. This prospective study was conducted among street vending food from vendors in three urban zone of Bukavu city. A total of 80 food samples compressing boiled meat (16), roast fish (18), sausages (21), fresh milk (13) and loaf (12) from 320 vendors were purchased and analyzed. Standard microbiological methods NF ISO 7218: 1996 were used for isolation, enumeration and identification of bacteria. Investigations into the point of sale and microbiological test results revealed the presence of a perpetual contamination risk by vendor categories. All street food samples tested are contaminated to varying degrees by bacteria, including: FMAT, total coliforms with Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus sp. with Negative Staphylococci Coagulase and Staphylococcus aureus and salmonella with species Salmonella enterica, represent a great risk of street food poisoning for over 350 consumers per month. The mean bacterial counts in these foods expressed to CFU/10g of each food collected exceed the standards set by the Codex Alimentarius, significant and highly statistically significant according different categories of vendors and sampling sites (p<0.0001). Samples collected from vendors in Kadutu urban zone (the most popular and unhealthy in the city) are more contaminated. Dishes that are not subjected to heating during preparation have the highest microbial load. This is the case of fresh milk where the total mesophilic flora is of order of 106 CFU/10g. This is also the case of street food which, after cooking are exposed for a long time at room temperature: boiled meat and sausages contain an uncountable amount of bacteria. Total coliforms, and Salmonella sp. are more loaded in boiled meat, fresh milk and sausages. Many Staphylococcus sp. are in the loaf. Much (77%) contaminated dishes are from ambulant vendors than other distributors, followed by semi-stationary and stationary vendors respectively (p<0.001). Contamination of street food in Bukavu is multifactorial and hygiene vendors contribute significantly to contamination factor, including unhygienic managers, dirty environment and poor water quality. Hence, sustainable development of communities through good hygiene practices in street foods handling. The government should thus strengthen health checks at street food and ensure their hygienic quality before consumption by the population in order to prevent these diseases and improve health of consumers.

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to evaluate hygiene conditions and practices in selected street food facilities in Paris, France. One hundred twenty mobile food establishments were studied: kiosks, 66 (55%); stands, 32 (26.7%); and food trucks, 22 (18.3%). Inspection of street food vendors and short interviews with staff using a specially designed checklist revealed that none of them were entirely hygienic. The hygiene conditions of the facilities themselves were the most satisfactory (77% of them were up to standard), but hygiene was less so for production and distribution processes (65% were satisfactory) and personal hygiene (67% were satisfactory). A significant (P ≤ 0.05) correlation between the general hygiene status and the hygiene conditions of the production and distribution processes (r = 0.86) and the hygiene practices of workers (r = 0.86) was found. The instances of noncompliance that were found may affect the safety of street-vended food. Because of its increasing popularity, it is important to correct poor hygiene practices. It is very important to identify common instances of noncompliance for street food facilities and to develop real remedial actions. Procedures to control the hygiene of street food vendors should also be developed. The checklist, which was specially designed to evaluate street vendor outlets, could also be used to pre-assess the hygiene conditions of production by those responsible for food hygiene. Furthermore, it could serve as a checklist for self-assessment (internal audit) by the vendors themselves and be adopted as a consumer education tool, to increase awareness of food hygiene of a catering facility.

Analysis of street foods of Kathmandu for bacterial contamination was performed in 12 different street foods. The surveillance study was carried in 200 children of primary grade from public school and 12 street vendors for the health hygiene and hazards associated with street food. Poor hygiene practice in preparation and handling of street food has been observed in the vendors. The lack of the knowledge in vendors about the source of bacterial contamination and absence of surveillance on street food has subjected street food to the high potential for food borne illness. The inadequate safety measure adopted by the targeted consumers of street food, the children, has augmented the risk associated with street food. All the food samples analyzed were contaminated with bacteria. The mesophilic count was recorded highest in Panipuri while as coliform count was highest in Chana tarkari. The least count of both was observed in Aaloo chop . Highest number of Staphylococccus aureus was found in Kerau (1.5X103cfu/g) and lowest in Momo (8.3 cfu/g). The dominant bacteria contaminating the food was S. aureus followed by Bacillus alvei, Escherichia coli, Enterobacter aerogenes, Bacillus subtilis, Serratia sp., S. saprophyticus. The contaminated hand and clothing of the person who prepare food are the major source of S. aureus. Highest percentage of E. coli found in Panipuri must be due to the use of contaminated water. Chana chatpate and Chana tarkari were the foods found to be contaminated with Salmonella sp. The type of food and the degree of hygiene practice adopted by vendor refl ects the type and magnitude of bacterial contamination. Implementation of hygienic practices in vendors may reduce the contamination of street food and health education of the school children will curtail the incidences of food borne illness. Periodical monitoring of quality of street food will avoid any future outbreaks of bacterial pathogen.J. Nat. Hist. Mus. Vol. 26, 2012: 1-9

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted the food retail environment. However, its impact on fresh fruit and vegetable vendors remains unclear; these are often smaller, more community centered, and may lack the financial infrastructure to withstand supply and demand changes induced by such crises. Objective This study documents the methodology used to assess fresh fruit and vegetable vendor closures in New York City (NYC) following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic by using Google Street View, the new Apple Look Around database, and in-person checks. Methods In total, 6 NYC neighborhoods (in Manhattan and Brooklyn) were selected for analysis; these included two socioeconomically advantaged neighborhoods (Upper East Side, Park Slope), two socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods (East Harlem, Brownsville), and two Chinese ethnic neighborhoods (Chinatown, Sunset Park). For each neighborhood, Google Street View was used to virtually walk down each street and identify vendors (stores, storefronts, street vendors, or wholesalers) that were open and active in 2019 (ie, both produce and vendor personnel were present at a location). Past vendor surveillance (when available) was used to guide these virtual walks. Each identified vendor was geotagged as a Google Maps pinpoint that research assistants then physically visited. Using the “notes” feature of Google Maps as a data collection tool, notes were made on which of three categories best described each vendor: (1) open, (2) open with a more limited setup (eg, certain sections of the vendor unit that were open and active in 2019 were missing or closed during in-person checks), or (3) closed/absent. Results Of the 135 open vendors identified in 2019 imagery data, 35% (n=47) were absent/closed and 10% (n=13) were open with more limited setups following the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. When comparing boroughs, 35% (28/80) of vendors in Manhattan were absent/closed, as were 35% (19/55) of vendors in Brooklyn. Although Google Street View was able to provide 2019 street view imagery data for most neighborhoods, Apple Look Around was required for 2019 imagery data for some areas of Park Slope. Past surveillance data helped to identify 3 additional established vendors in Chinatown that had been missed in street view imagery. The Google Maps “notes” feature was used by multiple research assistants simultaneously to rapidly collect observational data on mobile devices. Conclusions The methodology employed enabled the identification of closures in the fresh fruit and vegetable retail environment and can be used to assess closures in other contexts. The use of past baseline surveillance data to aid vendor identification was valuable for identifying vendors that may have been absent or visually obstructed in the street view imagery data. Data collection using Google Maps likewise has the potential to enhance the efficiency of fieldwork in future studies.