Food safety and hygiene practices of food vendors in public and private secondary schools in Omoku, Rivers State Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the food safety and hygiene practices of food vendors in public and private secondary schools in Omoku, Rivers State Nigeria. The study employed the descriptive survey design. The population of the study consisted of 400 street food vendors in ten (10) public and ten (10) private secondary schools selected in the area.Using stratified random sampling, sample size of 200 respondents was obtained and used for the study. Instrument for data collection was a 20-item questionnaire validated by experts in the department of Home Economics for face and content. The study was guided by four research questions. Frequency count ,Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the questions. The findings of the study showed that there was a moderate compliance of street food vendors with safety and hygiene regulations in Omoku. The study thus recommends that only trained and certificated food vendor be legally engaged in food vending practices in public and public and private secondary schools in Omoku, Rivers state.