ABSTRACT

Food safety is a vital issue both in developed and developing countries, given that food borne illnesses contribute to millions of illnesses and thousands of deaths annually. The present study assesses the food safety practices among street food vendors in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike. The study used a cross sectional research design. The population of the study was comprised of all the food vendors in and around Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike and the sample were 228 food vendors that were randomly selected for the study. The study used descriptive statistics to analyze the objectives while it used chi-square analysis to assess the association between food vendors food safety practices and characteristics of the food vendors. From the results, 73.7% of the vendors were females, more than half (56.1%) were married, most (36.8%) had secondary education while majority (72.8%) had no food safety training. On food safety practices, more than half (57.5%) of the vendors recorded poor food handling practice. The association between the food vending practice and characteristics of the vendors showed that educational qualification, years of working experience, type of food establishment, and- food safety training all had significant (P<0.05) association with food handing practice of the food vendors. The study concluded that the food vendors in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike had poor handling practices that needs urgent attention and however recommends that the university’s rules and regulations concerning choice of site for restaurant, the requirements of- the structure, standard safety practice etc. should always be enforced by through regular visitations to the restaurants and sanctioning of offenders to serve as deterrent.