Project Lead(s): Aliya Naheed
Street food contributes significantly to urban food supplies in 74% of World Health Organization (WHO) member states and is often a source of nutrition for people with low income.
Bacterial contamination in street food causes enteric diseases; unpublished reports from Bangladesh document a poor sense of food safety among street food vendors and a high level of fecal contamination of street food.
The project involved development of a food safety education program to improve food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices among street food vendors.
Use of low-cost techniques for treating water used for street food can promote a vendor’s business and livelihood.
The study tested food items of 115 street vendors in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and found that 30% of the street food in Dhaka was contaminated with human fecal pathogens, which are unacceptable for human consumption.
As a result of the findings, a training program was instituted: the 115 vendors were provided with training on hygiene practices and narrow-mouth water reservoirs. Water purification tablets, liquid soap for washing hands after toileting and hand sanitizer for cleaning hands after touching dirty surfaces were provided.
After monitoring the vendors for 12 weeks, significant improvements were seen in hygienic behaviours and the amount of E. coli found in street food was reduced, compared to before the intervention.
Knowledge from this study was disseminated to stakeholders in a workshop in Bangladesh in February 2015 and led to policy changes, where the City Corporation authority of Dhaka South is now considering options such as providing street food carts for selling hygienic street food and registering the vendors so they can be facilitated in improving hygiene and also held accountable.
Funding for the project of $197,909 was received through an agreement between the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) and FAO.
The project team is planning on applying for Phase II Transition To Scale funding to scale up in a selected number of wards of Dhaka South City and evaluating the impact of scale-up in improving street food safety in a larger street food vendor population.