Influence of knowledge on hygiene practices of handlers’ of ready to eat foods in Mathari slum, Nairobi, Kenya.

Abstract

Urbanization has been on the rise in developing countries, giving rise to slums. Nevertheless, there has been mushrooming of Ready to Eat food joints in the slums and their dependency in Kenya. Additionally, unhygienic handling and trading practices does not assure delivery of safe food to consumers hence these foods pose a major public health hazard as they are associated with foodborne illnesses. While most studies have documented the socio-economic importance and quality of street foods sold in urban centers, there is paucity of information on the knowledge and hygiene practices of the food handlers involved in Ready to Eat (RTE) foods sold in slums of Nairobi. Therefore, the current study objective was to assess the influence of knowledge on hygiene practices among RTE food handlers in Mathari. Specifically assessing food handler‘s hygiene practices, knowledge and the association of the food handler‘s knowledge and hygiene practices. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 180 respondents selected by multistage sampling from a population of 287 in Mathari 14 villages. Data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire and observation checklist. This study established that the street food business in Mathari is female dominated (76%). Also poor hygienic practices exist among street food vendors in Mathari during food preparation and sale. The food handlers‘ knowledge was good with a mean percentage score of 54%. They also demonstrated knowledge of contamination during preparation at 84%. Most of the vendors were willing to be trained in food safety and hygiene (82%).Chi square test indicated that there was a significant relationship between the levels of knowledge and the food hygiene practices at 0.01 level of significance (P-value <0.01). From the logistic regression analysis, a significant positive relation was observed between knowledge with practices having (OR =3.75, P < 0.05) for those who always practice‘, (OR =2.34, P < 0.05) for those who occasionally practice‘ depicting that the food handlers‘ knowledge on food hygiene affects food handler‘s practices. It can be anticipated that as knowledge will increase, practice will improve accordingly. Street food vendors in Mathari slums generally have good knowledge level on food hygiene issues but however do not translate this knowledge into practice, which could result in outbreaks of foodborne illnesses. Therefore, raising food safety knowledge among food handlers should be prioritized. This can be done through training programmes. Additionally, licensing and maintaining supervision should be mandated.