Street-vended food safety in Southeast Asia: consumers’ strategies to ensure food safety and vendors’ hygiene practices

Street-vended foods contribute to food security and livelihood developments in many countries, including Southeast Asia (SEA). However, street-vended food is a major source of foodborne illness in the region. This study aims to investigate Southeast Asian consumers' street-vended food consumption practices, their confidence in street-vended food safety, and their food safety strategies when purchasing or eating street-vended food. It also aims to assess street food vendors' hygiene practices using observations. A mixed-method design was employed, with data collected from a cross-sectional survey on 4096 consumers across seven SEA countries. It is followed by observations of 163 street food vendors using the Rapid Food Hygiene Inspection Tool (RFHiT) in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand. More than 65% would utilise risk mitigating strategies to ensure food safety when purchasing street-vended foods. Participants from Laos, females and those with higher education were less confident in street-vended food safety. Overall, 95 street food vendors were rated as 5.0-6.9 (moderate and some improvement required). Based on the observations from our study, access to potable water is a recurring challenge faced by street food vendors. This study presents the first empirical findings on consumers' food safety strategies when purchasing street-vended food in Southeast Asia.