Food Hygiene Practices and Associated Factors Among Street Food Vendors in Northeastern Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Street foods are ready-made meals, relatively inexpensive and easily accessible for the marginal people in developing countries. However, the lack of proper hygiene among vendors and the safety of the vending site make the street food sector a serious threat to public health. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the level of food hygiene practice and associated factors among street food vendors in Northeastern Ethiopia. A community-based cross-sectional study was performed among 422 street food vendors using a pre-tested structured questionnaire and an observation checklist from February 2020 to April 2020. Quantitative descriptive statistics were used to analyse the acquired data, employing frequency, percentage, and mean. The strength of association between the independent variables and food hygiene practices was assessed first using bivariate logistic regression analysis at a p-value of ≤ 0.25. Those of the fitted variables were further evaluated in the multivariate logistic regression model analysis to identify the associated factors at p-values < 0.05 and the corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) and adjusted odds ratio (AOR). As a result, 181(42.8%) of the street food vendors had a good level of food hygiene and safety practices. Regression analysis showed that the monthly income ≥ 2500 ETB per month (AOR = 2.6, 95% CI = 1.29, 5.21), food vendors work experience ≥ 3 years (AOR = 2.09, 95% CI = 1.06, 4.11), medical check-up of street food vendors (AOR = 2.78, 95% CI = 1.07, 7.18) and access to onsite water supply (AOR = 55.02, 95% CI = 6.60, 458.47) were significantly associated with food hygiene practices of the street vendors. The overall hygiene practice of street food vendors in the study area were poor. To improve the overall food hygiene practices, the street vendors should establish a good level of basic water supply, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) facilities in the study area.