Hazards of Street vended food

Every were we look today in Nigeria we find people hawking various commodities from electronic gadgets such as phone and  phone accessories, groceries, clothes, shoes,  food products such as cooked rice, beans, garri, tea or coffee etc.

Today hawking of food is now very common in our society as you find these food vendors everywhere with different kind of foreign and local dishes moving from one street to another or within certain location like markets, construction sites etc, in other to sell their food.

These vendors are most often patronized mainly by the lower class in the society and sometimes the middle class either for convenience sake or due to the unique flavor of their food. Despite the important role food vendors play in our society, many consumers that patronize these vendor fail to recognize the epidemiological significance of many street vended foods, and most consumers have poor knowledge of the street vendors basic food safety measures.

Although in Nigeria, epidemiological studies to suggest that street foods contribute to a significant number of food poisonings are inadequate, due to paucity of data, however, there have been several documented cases of food poisoning outbreaks due to street foods in other countries like china. Hazards that are associated with street vended food includes

                                                

The location were the vendor is selling the food and if the food is not properly handled can lead to transfer of pathogens from the vendor or others around or from the environment into the food.

Raw materials used in preparing the food such as water, vegetable and spice can easily be contaminated

Most people are not aware chemical from utensils and equipment can leach into the food and microbial contamination can occur due to Cross contamination of contaminated water, dish cloth and handler

Improper storage of food and temperature during hawking might lead to Likelihood of heat stable toxins produced by pathogens 

The personal hygiene of the vendor during food preparation and vending

 
                                             
                                        Street food vendor serving food to customers in a market