Knowledge, attitude and practice of food hygiene and safety among food vendors in a rural tertiary health facility in south South Nigeria

Background: Food hygiene and safety is a public health concern that requires the practices to prevent microbial and other contaminants of food from production to consumption. Study design: A descriptive cross-sectional study. Methods: One hundred (100) food handlers/vendors from ten food premises within the teaching hospital environment were interviewed using a semi-structured validated questionnaire. All food handlers/vendors who consented to participate in the study were interviewed (total population). Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 23. Statistical significance was set at 95% confidence level with p<0.05. Results were presented in tables and charts. Results: One hundred (100) participants were interviewed and of this, 44% were cooks and 67% had good knowledge of food hygiene and safety. Majority (70%) had positive attitude towards food hygiene and safety and about half (53%) had good practice of food hygiene and safety. Majority of those who had work experience of 26 years and above (77.8%) had good practice and positive attitude (88.9%) towards food hygiene and safety. More with no formal education (62.5%) had good practice of food hygiene and safety but this association was found not to be statistically significant. Conclusion: Two third of the respondents had good knowledge of food hygiene and safety with majority of them having positive attitude. This positive attitude and good knowledge of the respondents did not quite translate to good practice as only about half of them had good practice of food hygiene and safety.