Street Vended Foods

Most of the street vended foods are “ready-to-eat” foods and are consumed at the point of sale. These foods could be raw, undercooked or cooked, hot or chilled and are consumed without any further preparations, processing or cooking. Some of these foods may include; Pastries, Meat pie, Sausage, Rolls, Burger, Salad, Fried meat, Fried chicken, Fish, Milk and Milk products.

Vendors openly displays the foods for sale in roadside make-shift sheds, which are sometimes situated in very dirty surroundings, with limited or no access to sanitary facilities. These dirty surroundings act as reservoirs to rodents, flies and other insects that are potential carriers of disease causing microorganisms.

Though the street vended food plays an important role both economically and socially, evidence exists that foods exposed for sale on the road side may be contaminated by pathogenic microorganisms and even contribute to food borne diseases outbreaks.

Factors that contribute to contamination of street vended foods;

Poor hygiene practices.
Unsafe sources of the foods.

Contaminated raw food items.

Poor storage of the foods.
Lack of running water and detergents for washing hands.
Prolonged time lapse between preparation and consumption of the foods.

Most of the vendors have not been tested to confirm that they are medically fit to handle food.

The table below shows hazards analysis and microbial risk involved in street vended foods;

	Source	Hazard	Risk involved
1	Personal hygiene of vendors.	Improper food handling.	The vendors can be carriers of pathogens like; Escheria coli, Salmonella, Shigella Campylobacter and Salmonella aureus and eventually transfer these disease causing organisms to the consumers. The hands of the food handlers are the most important vehicle for the transfer of these microorganisms.
2	Vendor location.	Improper waste disposal.	Transmission of enteric pathogens like; Escheria coli, Shigella and Salmonella via vectors.
3	Raw materials.	Water.	Contaminated water used for drinking, washing of foods, washing equipment, utensils and hands. This leads to passage of pathogens like Escherichia coli, Faecal streptococci, Salmonella and Vibrio cholera to the foods.
3	Raw materials.	Vegetables and spices.	Some spices like pepper and turmeric harbours spore-forming bacteria like; Bacilli and Clostridium and raw vegetables used in salad, may be contaminated by pathogens like Listeria monocytogenes, Shigella, and Salmonella.
4	Utensils and vending equipments	Chemical contaminants.	Leaching of chemical such as; Lead, copper, and cadmium into the food as a result of using of equipment and utensils incompatible with the food being handled.
4	Utensils and vending equipments	Microbial contaminants.	Cross contamination of food with Staphylococcus aureus, Escheria coli and Shigella due to contaminated water and utensils.
5	Storage.	Improper storage temperature.	Most of the food venders do not observe the right storage temperature for cooked food, that is; Below -5⁰C and above 60⁰C. This creates favorable conditions for the growth of foodborne pathogen like; Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus and Clostridium perfringens.

All the above-mentioned bacteria cause gastrointestinal tract infections. Most of food vendors are not registered and licensed to carry out street vending activities in accordance with the terms and conditions specified in vending licenses. This puts public health at risk. Street vended food should be avoided at all cost to prevent transmission of gastrointestinal tract infections.