Sales Environment and Hygienic Practices of Street Food in N'Djamena, Chad

Introduction

Street food refers to all food and beverages prepared and / or sold by vendors in streets and other public places for immediate consumption or consumption without further processing or preparation [1, 2]. These street foods, because of their ease of access, their relatively low price, etc. provide food security for low-income urban population groups [3, 4]. For example, many households save on their daily income through the use of street food [5, 6]. Today, this sector has become a societal phenomenon due to its socio-economic and nutritional importance [7, 8, 9]. It provides a steady source of income for millions of people, men and women (many of them without training in food hygiene) in developing countries.

Studies in Africa, Asia, and South America suggest that some street food handlers lack protective equipment such as aprons, berets, or facial tissues [10, 11, 12, 13]. The lack of training of these producers could be a compromising element for the safety of food offered on public roads [10, 13]. The study conducted by Nieto-Montenegro and collaborator in 2008 revealed that the educational lessons alone produced a significant positive improvement in hygienic knowledge related to washing hands after using the toilet [14].

The preparation and sale of street foods takes place in an environment that can in some cases guarantee the quality of these foods and in other cases help to alter them. Several studies have clearly shown that these foods are sold close to open gutters, with the presence of stray animals and even insects that are true vectors of contamination [8, 11, 13, 15]. The main causes of the unhealthy nature of these foods come from non- compliance with good hygiene practices in their processing, cooking, preservation or sale [16, 17, 18].

In Chad, a survey was conducted among street food vendors through the Research and Support Project for Food Safety in Street Food (PRASAR). The study shows that all food categories exist on the street. The majority of salespeople moved in the heap without specific training and these sellers were rather fixed than ambulant. Foods are often exposed to the outdoors. Many deficiencies in hygiene practices have been identified [18]. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), food-borne illnesses significantly degrade health and reduce economic growth in developed and developing countries [19].

The growth rate in N'Djamena is 2.9% [20]. As in other African cities, the expansion of the population of N’Djamena and the many daily constraints that this population faces has led to an increase in the number of street vendors in recent years. The objective of this work is to study the sales environment and hygiene practices in the street food sector in N'Djamena, Chad, to prevent foodborne illness.

Material and Methods

This study was carried out in N’Djamena, capital of the Republic of Chad. N’Djamena subdivided in ten districts which comprise sixty-four quarters distributed unevenly. Among ten districts, eight were drawn at random for this study (Figure 1).

The sample size for the surveys was estimated by the simple random sampling method taking ɛ = 1.96 for an accuracy α = 5%, the formula is as follows:

Q = 1 - p and being the precision. The prevalence of intoxication is estimated to be 5% for sellers and 10% for consumers (the phenomenon is more important for consumers who consume compared to sellers). So, for the ( ) ( ) size of sellers invistigate, and for the ( ) ( ) size of consumers to investigate, This resulted in a number of sellers equal to 75 and a number of consumers equal to 140. However, given the availability, the interviews took place with 809 sellers and 455 consumers.

As far as the seller is concerned, the questionnaire dealt with Sex, Training in hygiene and food technology, Sales environment (dust, wind, garbage nearby, sewage around the sale), Food protection, Cutting tools for raw and cooked foods, Source of water used by sellers, State of dish water, Apron Wear, Gloves use, Buco-nasal mask use, Clean clothes, Hair cover, Food preservation materials, Ustensils, Handling of food by customers, Manipulation of money by sellers, Medical follow-up of street food sellers, Taking money by the sellers, Handwashing device, Soap use. The questionnaire included Tools used by guests to eat, Unwanted elements found in foods by consumers, Spoiled/undercooked foods found by consumers, Consumer perception on Vendor Hygiene, Food transmitting disease.

Once in a neighborhood, the investigators placed themselves in the center of the neighborhood in relation to the directions of the warden and one of the four cardinal points is drawn to determine the direction in which the investigators will begin the interviews. The rest of the journey was clockwise until the neighbourhood was swept away. Once at the point of investigation, the different sellers are codified and randomly drawn according to the predefined number. The same operation was carried out for consumers. Those selected to complete the questionnaires received a brief overview of the purpose of the work and the interview was not completed until after the respondent's approval.

The data was processed using R 3.6.0 software (In the processing of statistical data, for a degree of significance p < 0.05, the results obtained were considered significant.

Click to enlarge

Conclusion

The results presented in this study show a failure in good manufacturing practices and good hygiene practices among street food vendors in N'Djamena. The health risks associated with street foods could be minimized if good hygiene practices were followed during the preparation, storage and sale of these foods.

In view of the socio-economic and nutritional benefits of street foods, various measures and arrangements need to be taken to improve their qualities. It would be necessary to sensitize and train street food vendors on good hygiene practices and good food manufacturing practices. Food quality is related to the health of the environment. The production and sale of food must take place in a safe environment away from dust and other vectors such as flies and insects. It is important to sweep up and clean the food preparation media frequently. A clean environment too is one of the conditions necessary for the healthy production of food.

Conflict of Interests

The authors do not declare any conflict of interest.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the coordination of the Research and Support Project for Street Food Safety (PRASAR) and all its investigators for their financial and technical support during the data collection. Our sincere thanks also go to the highest authorities in Chad country for funding PRASAR.