Title : ANALYSIS OF FOOD SAFETY KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICES IN HLEDAN AND KYIMYINDINE NIGHT BIZAAR

Keywords : Food Safety, independent sample t test, descriptive analysis, food awareness, Personal hygiene, Storage, Food Preparation, Food Safety Knowledge

Authors : Mu Mu Swe

Publication Date : 2020-08-01

Description : Food Safety is a practice that preserves the quality of food to prevent contamination & food borne illnesses. It is essential to ensure the nourishment we eat is not defiled with likely hurtful microscopic organism, poisons, and synthetic substances. Food can get contaminated at any period of time during production, preparation and distribution. Everyone plays a role to ensure that the food we eat does not cause any diseases. This study examined the food safety knowledge of street vendors and food safety practices followed by street vendors from selected two markets in Yangon. A total of 100 street vendors from two markets responded the questionnaires. The questionnaire includes a total of 54 questions in six subgroup such as cooking utensils, food safety knowledge, food preparation, food storage, personal hygiene, food handling and serving, demographic characteristic of vendors. Descriptive analysis based on primary data is conducted on the street food vendors’ awareness, attitude and practices of food safety and independent sample t test is also used for comparing the two markets food safety practices and knowledge. It was found that street food vendors from Hledan Market have the better knowledge while vendor’s form Kyimyindine Night Bazaar have lower level of understanding food safety. Personal hygiene and food handling practices of street food vendors’ form both markets are very low even though they have better understanding on food safety. And majority of respondent food sellers were found weak to comply the particularly personal hygiene and food handling practices due to lack of food safety training provided by the authority concerned and lack of knowledge. Due to lack of providing educational food safety training and periodic monitoring by the almost no necessary actions have been authority concerned, apparently street food vendors’ awareness is likely to be weak an taken regarding unsafe food.