Personal and food hygiene practices of subsistence food vendors operating in Kano metropolis, northwestern Nigeria

Background: Foodborne diseases are on the increase throughout the world due to poor attention given to personal and food hygiene measures by both lawmakers and people in charge of food preparation, especially in the developing countries. Objective: To examine the knowledge and practices of food v...

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Main Authors: Umar Muhammad Lawan, Zubairu Iliyasu, Sanusi Abubakar, Auwal Umar Gajida, Ahmad Abdussalam
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2015
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/8771/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/8771/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/8771/1/P.214-221.pdf
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spelling ukm-87712016-12-14T06:48:06Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/8771/ Personal and food hygiene practices of subsistence food vendors operating in Kano metropolis, northwestern Nigeria Umar Muhammad Lawan, Zubairu Iliyasu, Sanusi Abubakar, Auwal Umar Gajida, Ahmad Abdussalam, Background: Foodborne diseases are on the increase throughout the world due to poor attention given to personal and food hygiene measures by both lawmakers and people in charge of food preparation, especially in the developing countries. Objective: To examine the knowledge and practices of food vendors operating in urban Kano on personal and food hygiene. Materials and Methods: We used a descriptive cross-sectional design to study a random sample of 380 food vendors in Kano metropolis. Data were collected using pretested interviewer administered semi-structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using Epi Infos software, version 3.5.1. Results: The mean age of the food vendors was 27.78 ± 7.63 years. The majority (61.1%) of them were men (53.2%), married (61.8%), and had at least secondary education (51.1%). More than two-thirds (89.7%) had fair knowledge of personal hygiene, although there were deficiencies in some of the key hygiene areas, but 62.4% and 36.6% had good and fair knowledge of food hygiene, respectively. Most of the food vendors had good practices of personal hygiene (93.2%). Paradoxically, only 17.1% had good practice of food hygiene. Furthermore, more than half (54.2%) showed bad workplace hygiene practices. Conclusion: Food vendors operating in Kano generally knew about personal and food hygiene, but this was not reflected in their hygienic practices. It is the statutory responsibility of the environmental health officers to safeguard and implement food hygiene laws in Nigeria. But despite the available structure and personnel at the local government area level, the laws are still inactive. The health authorities at the state and federal levels should empower the environmental health officers with the necessary policy and logistic support they require to fully implement the laws in Kano and Nigeria as a whole. The laws should also be reviewed to ensure more severe penalty for offenders. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2015-06-17 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/8771/1/P.214-221.pdf Umar Muhammad Lawan, and Zubairu Iliyasu, and Sanusi Abubakar, and Auwal Umar Gajida, and Ahmad Abdussalam, (2015) Personal and food hygiene practices of subsistence food vendors operating in Kano metropolis, northwestern Nigeria. International Journal of Public Health Research, 4 (2). pp. 214-221. ISSN 2232-0245 www.ijphr.ukm.my
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Local University
institution Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia
building UKM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
language English
description Background: Foodborne diseases are on the increase throughout the world due to poor attention given to personal and food hygiene measures by both lawmakers and people in charge of food preparation, especially in the developing countries. Objective: To examine the knowledge and practices of food vendors operating in urban Kano on personal and food hygiene. Materials and Methods: We used a descriptive cross-sectional design to study a random sample of 380 food vendors in Kano metropolis. Data were collected using pretested interviewer administered semi-structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using Epi Infos software, version 3.5.1. Results: The mean age of the food vendors was 27.78 ± 7.63 years. The majority (61.1%) of them were men (53.2%), married (61.8%), and had at least secondary education (51.1%). More than two-thirds (89.7%) had fair knowledge of personal hygiene, although there were deficiencies in some of the key hygiene areas, but 62.4% and 36.6% had good and fair knowledge of food hygiene, respectively. Most of the food vendors had good practices of personal hygiene (93.2%). Paradoxically, only 17.1% had good practice of food hygiene. Furthermore, more than half (54.2%) showed bad workplace hygiene practices. Conclusion: Food vendors operating in Kano generally knew about personal and food hygiene, but this was not reflected in their hygienic practices. It is the statutory responsibility of the environmental health officers to safeguard and implement food hygiene laws in Nigeria. But despite the available structure and personnel at the local government area level, the laws are still inactive. The health authorities at the state and federal levels should empower the environmental health officers with the necessary policy and logistic support they require to fully implement the laws in Kano and Nigeria as a whole. The laws should also be reviewed to ensure more severe penalty for offenders.
format Article
author Umar Muhammad Lawan,
Zubairu Iliyasu,
Sanusi Abubakar,
Auwal Umar Gajida,
Ahmad Abdussalam,
spellingShingle Umar Muhammad Lawan,
Zubairu Iliyasu,
Sanusi Abubakar,
Auwal Umar Gajida,
Ahmad Abdussalam,
Personal and food hygiene practices of subsistence food vendors operating in Kano metropolis, northwestern Nigeria
author_facet Umar Muhammad Lawan,
Zubairu Iliyasu,
Sanusi Abubakar,
Auwal Umar Gajida,
Ahmad Abdussalam,
author_sort Umar Muhammad Lawan,
title Personal and food hygiene practices of subsistence food vendors operating in Kano metropolis, northwestern Nigeria
title_short Personal and food hygiene practices of subsistence food vendors operating in Kano metropolis, northwestern Nigeria
title_full Personal and food hygiene practices of subsistence food vendors operating in Kano metropolis, northwestern Nigeria
title_fullStr Personal and food hygiene practices of subsistence food vendors operating in Kano metropolis, northwestern Nigeria
title_full_unstemmed Personal and food hygiene practices of subsistence food vendors operating in Kano metropolis, northwestern Nigeria
title_sort personal and food hygiene practices of subsistence food vendors operating in kano metropolis, northwestern nigeria
publisher Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
publishDate 2015
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/8771/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/8771/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/8771/1/P.214-221.pdf
first_indexed 2023-09-18T19:53:10Z
last_indexed 2023-09-18T19:53:10Z
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