Publication:

Knowledge, attitude and practice of food hygiene among street food vendors near a tertiary care hospital in Kolkata, India

Background Health care set ups in Indian cities are being catered by a number of street food vendors on whom the patients, visitors, doctors, medical students and staff depend. Thus, ensuring proper food hygiene among them is of uttermost importance. The purpose of the study was to determine knowledge, attitude and practice of food hygiene among them and various factors that influence it.

Methods A cross sectional study was conducted on 106 street food vendors surrounding a tertiary care hospital in Kolkata. A predesigned pretested schedule was used to collect information on socio-demographic profile, knowledge and attitude on food hygiene through interviews and practice was observed. Statistical analysis was done using Pearson’s Chi-squared test.

Results The mean age of food vendors was 37.74±10.70 years and majority were familiar with the terms “food hygiene” and “food borne illness”. The median score of attitude on food hygiene was 9.5 and significant (p<0.05) association was found with age, gender and education. Less than one third of street food vendors had acceptable practice and significant (p<0.05) association was found with education, marital status and type of food vendor.

Conclusions The street food vendors were aware of food hygiene and had favourable attitude towards it, but it wasn’t translated in their hygiene practice. This study can help to identify the factors that influence food hygiene practice and incorporate them in food hygiene training.