Assessing Food Safety Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) of Street Food Vendors and Sanitary Conditions of Vendor Stalls in Gia Lam, Ha Noi, Vietnam

Background and aim: Food safety plays an important role in human health. Street food vendors are common and highly associated with food culture in Vietnam. This study evaluated the food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of street food handlers and the sanitary conditions of their vendor stalls to identify areas to improve towards consumer’s safety in Gia Lam District.
Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 216 street food handlers. KAP data were collected using a face-to-face interview format via a structured questionnaire adapted from Vietnam’s national food safety and hygiene regulations for street food vendors. An observational checklist similarly adapted from the national regulations was used to assess the sanitary conditions of their vending sites.
Results: The results showed that 62.0% of street vendors had good levels of food safety knowledge. However, using their aprons as towels to rub their hands while handling food was agreed upon by only 31%, and 29.2% practice it occasionally. While 90% of food handlers washed their hands with soap and water before handling or serving food, vectors and domestic animals that facilitate the spread of foodborne pathogenic organisms were observed in more than half of the vending stalls.
Conclusion: Overall, food vendors showed good compliance to food safety KAP, but very low compliance areas at stall that needs to be focused on.It is recommended that management of the street food business continue to adhere to food safety handling laws and provide sanitary facilities, education and motivation for their workers.