Safe Eats, Reliable Nourishment: Assessing Food Safety and Hygiene Practices among Street Food Vendors in Mekelle City

Abstract

Street vendors prepare and/or sell ready-to-eat food and beverages in public areas. In a number of developing nations, the street food industry is presently expanding. Its increase is linked to urbanization and the need for jobs and food among city people. They present a serious risk to consumers even though they are widely accessible and reasonably priced. The aim of this study was to evaluate the food hygiene practices of street food vendors in Mekelle City. A predetermined criterion-based of purposive sampling method was employed for the quantitative procedures of the study, consistent with its descriptive design. A scheduled Questionnaire and face-to-face observation checklist were used to gather information from street food vendors. SPSS version 27 was used to analyze the data, and it applied descriptive statistics. The survey included 85 street food vendors. Eighty-six (86) percent of the responses, or 75 vendors, were young women. Based on the frequency distribution of their ages, 72 (84.7%) of the vendors were between the ages of 18 and 35. Just 14 suppliers (16.5%) reported having received formal training on awareness and training. One significant finding was that 84.7% of food vendors did not have access to hand-washing stations, and 96.5% did not have appropriate trash cans. Furthermore, only 97.1% of people covered their heads. Comparing Mekelle City's street food vendors to the WHO's to safer food standards revealed significant gaps in food safety and hygiene practices; for example, none of the vendors checked the doneness of their food using a thermometer. To summarize, in terms of safe, reliable nourishment and hygiene practices, the survey revealed critical gaps that pose risks to food hygiene practices among the vendors. Based on the report it is suggested that to create a strategic plan to allocate certain locations for street food vendors, to develop a clear and simple guideline for better regulatory enforcement to enhance food safety standards and urgent need for training programs to alleviate the problem that can lead to majority benefits in Mekelle City and other similar settings.