The vendors observed minimal personal hygiene. Personal hygiene is important because
according to Marriot [16], human beings are the largest contamination sources of food.
Vendors did not wear aprons or caps, and they handled food with bare hands. Cooked
street food should not be handled with bare hands. According to revised guidelines for
the design of control measures for street-vended foods in Africa [11], clean tongs, forks,
spoons or disposable gloves should be used when handling, serving or selling food.
Handling with bare hands may result in cross contamination, hence introduction of
microbes on safe food. The person handling money should not handle food. This is
because money is dirty and can contaminate safe food [7]. Observing personal hygiene is
vital for any food establishment. Any food handler who observes other forms of hygiene
but not personal hygiene, will definitely contaminate food. Training should, therefore, be
conducted for the street food vendors on various aspects of personal hygiene.
Cooked food and utensils were not covered, which could result in food contamination due
to dust and microbes. The utensils in which the food is displayed for sale must be kept
clean, covered and protected as they easily become contaminated if left dirty or
unprotected [15]. Kinton and Ceserani [17] recommend that foodstuffs of all kinds
should be kept covered as much as possible to prevent contamination from dust and flies.
Proper methods of storing left-over food were not used; hence this could promote the sale
of stale food. At an international conference on nutrition 18 it was resolved that if foodcannot be served immediately, it should be kept hot or cooled down rapidly and reheated
completely to a temperature of at least 700 C before eating. This is to make sure that
microbes will not thrive on the food because there they flourish well between 100Cand
600C. It is recommended that the street food vendors prepare enough food for the day, so
that they can sell all the food since most of them do not have good storage facilities.
The street foods were prepared in unhygienic and sanitary conditions. This is because the
vendors deposited their food and water wastes beside the stalls; this resulted in a dirty
environment that attracted houseflies, the presence of which compromise sanitation.
Presence of flies is an indication of poor hygiene and sanitary practices. This concurs
with another study done in Nairobi, which found that, proper garbage collection and
disposal were lacking and vendors had to put garbage in their own place. According to
FAO [11] adequate drainage and waste disposal systems and facilities should be provided
in the street food industry and designed properly so that the risk of contamination of food
and potable water is low.