ABSTRACT
The study focused on the assessment of customer’s perception on hygiene practice among food vendors in tertiary institutions, a study of Abia state University. The following specific were raised from the study; Investigate the perception of customers towards food handling and hygiene practices among food vendors, Determine the customer’s attitude towards hygiene practices among food vendors, Ascertain customer’s knowledge of standard hygiene food practices among others. To achieve the objective of the study, survey research design was adopted. The researcher adopted primary data in getting the required information through the use of structured questionnaire. The population of the study is 200.The sample size of the study has 133 respondents after adopting the statistical formula derived by Taro Yamane. In analysis the data, simple descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentage was used to analyze respondent’s personal data while frequencies and percentage, and mean was used to analyze the research question. The findings revealed that unkept service environment can expose customers to food-borne illness, lack of frequently washing of their hands often before serving of food, food vendors do not cover their heads while serving of food and poor cleaning of service equipment’s such as tables and chairs before serving of food are the perception of customers towards food handling and hygiene practices among food vendors. The findings also reveal that there is total rejection of food by customers, loss of appetite by customers, lack of satisfaction by customers, lack of customer’s patronage as a result of unhygienic practices among food vendor are the customer’s attitude towards hygiene practices among food vendors. The study recommends that Hygiene practices include washing and sanitizing of all equipment including utensils, knives chopping boards and work surfaces before and after use when preparing different foods and the training of food handling personnel is critical, also the personnel should be aware of their roles and responsibility in protecting the food from contamination, thus ensuring that clients meals are free from any type of contamination and the prospective food handlers seeking an eatery in Abia state University should compulsorily made to have pre-employment examination to assess his or her level of knowledge of food hygiene by sanitary health officers of environmental health unit.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Title Page i
Approval Page ii
Declaration iii
Certification iv
Dedication v
Acknowledgement vi
Table of Contents vii
List of Tables ix
Abstract x
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
a.
Background to the
Study 1
b.
Statement of the Problem 5
c.
Objective of the Study 7
d.
Research
Questions 8
e.
Significance
of the Study 9
f.
Scope of the
Study 9
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED
LITERATURE
2.1 Conceptual
Framework 11
2.1.1 Customer’s Perception 11
2.1.2 Areas
of Customer Perception 12
2.1.3 Perception of Healthiness 16
2.1.4 Hygiene
Practices 18
2.1.5 Food
Vendors 21
2.1.6 Perception
of Food Handling and Hygiene Practices Among Food Vendors 22
2.1.7 Food
Serving and Hygiene Practices Among Food Vendors 25
2.1.8 Consumers’
Attitudes Towards Standard Hygienic Practice and
Food Safety Among Vendors 27
2.2 Theoretical
Frame Work 27
2.2.1 Theory
of Planned Behavior 27
2.3 Empirical
Review 29
2.4 Summary
of Literature Review 30
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Design 34
3.2 The Study Area 34
3.3 Population of The
Study 34
3.4 Sampling and Sample Size 35
3.5 Instruments for
Data Collection 35
3.6 Validity of The
Instruments 36
3.7 Reliability of The
Instruments 36
3.8 Method of Data
Collection 36
3.9 Statistical
Analyses 36
CHAPTER
FOUR
RESULTS
AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Results 37
4.1.1 Socio-Economic Characteristics 37
4.2 Analysis of Research Questions 38
4.3 Discussion of Findings 39
CHAPTER
FIVE
SUMMARY,
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary 47
5.1.1 Restatement
of The Problem 48
5.1.2 Description of Methods Used 49
5.1.3 Major
Findings
50
5.2
Conclusion 51
5.3
Recommendations 51
5.4 Contribution to Knowledge
52
5.5 Suggestion for Further Studies 53
Appendix A
References
LIST OF TABLES
Table
4.1 Questionnaire Distribution and Return 37
Table
4.2 Distribution of Respondents based on Age 37
Table
4.3 Gender 38
Table
4.4 Distribution of Respondents Based On Marital Status 38
Table
4.5 Distribution of Respondents Based On Their Educational Qualification 39
Table 4.6 Mean
Responses of Respondents On the Perception of Customers
Towards Food
Handling and Hygiene Practices Among Food Vendors in
Abia State
University, Uturu? 39
Table 4.7 Mean
Responses of Respondents On the Customer’s Attitude Towards Hygiene Practices Among Food Vendors in Abia
State University, Uturu? 41
Table 4.8 Mean
Responses of the Respondents On the Customer’s Knowledge of Standard
Hygiene Food Practices In Abia State University, Uturu 42
Table 4.9 Mean
Responses of Respondents On the Reasons Behind Negative Customer’s Perception of Hygiene Practice
Among Food Vendors In Tertiary
Institutions In Abia State University, Uturu? 43
Table 4.10 Mean
Responses of The Respondents On The Possible Ways Of
Practicing Proper Hygiene Practices Among Food
Vendors In The Study Area
44
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Assessment
of costumer's perception on hygiene practices among food vendors is very
important, and it is crucial that it is improved in food service
establishments. The lack of such knowledge by food handlers may lead to
infection of food prepared. Food handlers play an important role in ensuring
the safety of food throughout production and storage. A recent meta-analysis
has shown that food hygiene training increases knowledge and improves attitudes
about personal hygiene practices and that refresher training and regular
emphasis on hand washing practices among food handlers (Noon & Baines,
2012).
The
attitude of a food handler is a crucial factor that may influence food hygiene
behaviour and practices (Al-shabi,
Mosithey & Husain, 2016). Improper handling is responsible for most cases
of foodborne illness. Training for caterers has been shown to improve food
hygiene knowledge and awareness and may result in improved hygiene practices.
According to Soares et al. (2012) training programs are an integral part of
creating a positive culture of food hygiene and they must occur occasionally,
in order to promote changes in people’s behaviours through attitudes and
practices that encourage the production
of safe by reducing the risk food borne illness.
Food-borne
illnesses are the causes of many diseases worldwide. It is an
increasing public health problem
in emergent as well as developed nations,
resulting into morbidity
and mortality in the general population, particularly in
susceptible groups, such as
infants, young children,
elderly and the immunocompromised (Nyenje and Ndip, 2013). In spite of the efforts made on food safety
and environment, 2.1 million adults and three million children, including
two million in
emergent nations, die
each year from water
consumption or contaminated
food. According to
World Health Organization
an estimated 1.5 billion
cases and over
125, 000 deaths occur in children
every year as a result of water and food contaminations (Annor and Baiden,
2011). In developing countries, an
estimated 70% of
diarrheal episodes are linked
with the ingestion
of contaminated foods (Elvis and Henry, 2016).
In 2017,
World Health Organization
estimated that approximately 600 million people fall
ill after eating contaminated
food resulting in
33 million healthy years;
foodborne diseases account
for 40% diseases burden among
under 5 years. Food
contamination is common
not only in developing
countries but also
in developed countries of
the world. This
is particularly high when
food is prepared
for a large
number of people at
the same time,
especially in canteens and
restaurants. Eating out
of the home
may lead to an
increased risk of contracting a food-borne illness Food-borne illnesses are
the root causes of many diseases people suffer worldwide. It is an
increasing public health problem
in emergent nations like Nigeria,
leading to morbidity and mortality in the general population,
particularly in susceptible groups,
such as infants,
young children, elderly and the immune compromised. In spite
of the efforts made on food
safety and environment, 2.1 million adults and three million children,
including two million in emergent nations,
die each year from
water consumption or
contaminated food. According
to World Health
Organization an estimated 1.5
billion cases and
over 125, 000 deaths occur in children every year as a
result of water and food contaminations (WHO, 2015).
In
developing countries, an estimated
70% of diarrheal episodes are
linked with the
ingestion of contaminated foods
(Annor and Baiden, 2011). In 2017,
World Health Organization
estimated that approximately 600 million people fall
ill after eating contaminated
food resulting in
33 million healthy years;
foodborne diseases account
for 40% diseases burden among
under 5 years (WHO, 2017).
According
to Arendt, Rajagopal, Strohbehn, Stokes, Meyer, and Mandernach
(2013), eating away from home, especially in restaurants, is associated with a
significant number of foodborne disease outbreaks in the United States. Jones
and Angulo (2016) demonstrated that eating in restaurants was a risk factor for
foodborne diseases hence this industry has a role to play in reducing
food-borne disease outbreaks. This can be achieved by addressing food handler
related risk factors in these food establishments. Eating away from home is
common to students. Indeed this leads to a food endemic in Queens College, Yaba
Lagos where 50 students where admitted to the school clinic after eating
spaghetti and drinking water from the refectory. It was also recorded that
specimen collected from 40 kitchen workers revealed that cysts of Entamoeba histolytica
were isolated in the stool of 23 food handlers; salmonella paragraph,
the causative agent of Typhoid Fever, was also isolated from 3 handlers
(Adewunmi, Rajagopal, Strohbehn,
Stokes, Meyer, and Mandernach, 2014). As a result of this
predicament, many customers are worried perceiving that the hygiene practices
among food vendors are very poor.
A
total of 2.5 billion people all over the world eat street foods everyday (WH0,
2015). When customers go out to a restaurant, they look for possible visible
cues to perceive and assess the level of food hygiene practice of the vendor
serving them.
Iwu,
Uwakwe, Duru, Diwe, Chineke and Merenu (2017) opined that food vendors are
often poor and uneducated and lack appreciation for safe food handling.
Consequently, street foods sold by vendors are perceived to be a major public
health risk. If a community is to have the full benefits of street-vended foods
with minimal risk of food borne disease, government intervention is required to
ensure that the standard of safety for such foods is the best attainable in the
context of the prevailing local situation. However, the problem is exacerbated
in developing countries due to economic reasons inflations, poverty, lack of
adequate health care facilities, and the dearth of data regarding food-borne
diseases. The hygienic practices of street or vended foods around the tertiary
institutions in Nigeria is therefore one of the most pressing health and safety
issues facing most developing countries since it leads to both public health
and social consequences (Feglo & Sakyi, 2018).
Nowadays, customers expect the foods they
purchase and consume in any food vendor or even around the school vicinity to
be and of high quality. They also have the right to voice their opinions about
the hygienic practices used by the food vendors in serving their customers. This right influences their attitude. The
attitudes determines the customer’s disposition to respond positively or
negatively to the services rendered by the vendors. When a customer/consumer
evaluate a product alternatives that may satisfy the same need, desire or want,
he integrate the perceptions of the alternatives into an overall judgment, or
attitude, about the attractiveness of each product alternative (Alimi, 2016).
Customer
perception is a marketing concept that encompasses a customer’s impression,
awareness, and consciousness about a company or its offerings. Customer
collects information about a product and interprets the information to make a
meaningful image about a particular product. The entire process of customer
perception starts when a consumer sees or gets information about a particular
product. This process continues until the consumer starts to build an opinion
about the product (Hanan, Sadri and Yusup, 2021).
Customer’s
perception on hygiene practices among food vendors in tertiary institutions has
been an issue of concern. Alimi (2016) reported that customers perceived that
street food is mostly criticized and viewed as a health threat when the places
they are produced and sold are open to dirt and contamination, and that
hygiene, attitude, and applications adopted by the sellers during food
preparation and storage are insufficient. Hanan, Sadri and Yusup (2021) argues
that consumers of food prepared by food vendors believes that avoiding dirt at
the place of food marketing was already desirable. No wonder Franklin and
Badrie (2015) observed that business place with high level of cleanliness and
sanitation seems to attract more new customers as well as retaining existing
ones than one with dirty and unkept environment.
Customers
in today’s world have limited amount of money which they are willing to spend,
Bellia, Pilato and Seraphin, (2016) said customers prefer to spend their money where they do not have
to worry about health issues, clutter, and all the rest provided the place is
clean.
According
to Okojie and Isah (2014), there has been an inadequate supervision and
monitoring by food safety officers, and the enforcement of food hygiene
regulation has been weak. Poor sanitary conditions like open gutters, flies,
improper waste disposal, and overcrowding are still persistent dangers to food
hygiene (Onyeneho & Hedberg, 2017). Even vendors who exhibit knowledge
about food hygiene still find it difficult, associating dirty hands with the
transmission of diarrheal pathogens. Just to say the least, the sources of food
contamination are but few of the roots and sources of contamination that are
known in the limelight. Very little is usually known and explored about how
street food vendors themselves perceive food safety and how to practice
it. This have necessitated the need to
assess customer’s perception on hygiene practice among food vendors in tertiary
institutions in Abia State University Uturu.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE
PROBLEM
With the difficult, harsh
economic environment especially in developing countries, food vending business
is rapidly expanding in the urban areas and serving as a common, accessible and
complementing source of family income and employment especially for women,
which is probably due to the existing cultural orientation and gender bias. With
the difficult, harsh economic environment especially in developing countries,
food vending business is rapidly expanding in the urban areas and serving as a
common, accessible and complementing source of family income and employment. As
a result of this, many food vendors have sprang up over the years in many
campus of Nigeria tertiary institutions. As such, many food vendors do not
adhere to good hygienic practice during preparation and serving of their food
to their customer.
In
the words of Akintaro (2012) submitted, large quantity of food produced and
distributed gets to the consumers in an unwholesome condition due to poor
handling methods, inefficient processing equipment and storage practices, high
ambient tropical temperature and humidity conditions (Mudey, Kesharwani, Mudey,
Goyal, Dawale and Wagh 2010). Food contamination can occur at any point during
its preparation, bringing to bear the importance of food safety and hygiene in
the prevention of food borne diseases (Ismail and Abdullahi, 2013).
Food-borne
illness is a public health problem causing morbidity and mortality in general
population. Many people die of food poisoning annually in Nigeria from
foodborne pathogens from contaminated food and water consumption in emergent
nations. Food borne diseases are major health problems in developed and
developing countries including Nigeria. The problem is more noticeable among
food vendors in tertiary institutions like Abia state University, Uturu due to
prevailing poor food handling and sanitation practices, inadequate food safety
laws, weak regulatory systems, lack of financial resources to invest on safer
equipment, lack of education for food handlers and inadequate WASH (Water
Sanitation and Hygiene) facilities. The World Health Organization estimated
that in developed countries, up to 30% of the populations suffer from food
borne diseases each year, whereas in developing countries up to 2 million
deaths are estimated per year (WHO, 2015). Every day people all over the world
get sick from the food they eat (FAO/WHO, 2015).
According
to Ayehu, Kassahun and Daniel (2014), millions of people become sick each year
and thousands die after eating contaminated or mishandled foods. Food handlers
with poor personal hygiene working in food establishments could be potential
sources of infections of many intestinal helminthes, protozoa, and pathogenic
bacteria (Elvis & Addo, 2016). The case of food vendors in tertiary
institutions like Abia state University, Uturu is not different from what is
reported by the authors reviewed.
In
2017, World Health Organization estimated that approximately 600 million people
fall ill after eating contaminated food resulting in 33 million healthy years;
foodborne diseases account for 40% diseases burden among under 5 years. Food
contamination is common not only in developing countries but also in developed
countries of the world. This is particularly high when food is prepared for a
large number of people at the same time, especially in canteens and
restaurants. Eating out of the home may lead to an increased risk of
contracting a foodborne illness. It is
based on these problems highlighted that the study is poised towards
investigating the assessment of customer’s perception on food safety and
hygiene practice among food vendors in tertiary institutions, a study of Abia
state University, Uturu.
1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The
broad objective of this study was to assess customer’s perception on hygiene
practices among food vendors in tertiary institutions, a study of Abia state
University, Uturu. Specifically, the study sought to:
i.
Investigate the
perception of customers towards food handling and hygiene practices among food
vendors in Abia state University, Uturu.
ii.
Determine the customer’s
attitude towards hygiene practices among food vendors in Abia state University,
Uturu.
iii.
Ascertain customer’s
knowledge of standard hygiene food practices in Abia state University, Uturu.
iv.
Identify the reasons
behind negative customer’s perception of hygiene practice among food vendors in
tertiary institutions in Abia state University, Uturu.
v.
To recommend possible
ways of practicing proper hygiene practices among food vendors in the study area.
1.4
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The following
research questions will guide this study.
1. What
are the perception of customers towards food handling and hygiene practices
among food vendors in Abia state University, Uturu?
2. What
are the customer’s attitude towards hygiene practices among food vendors in
Abia state University, Uturu?
3. What
are the customer’s knowledge of standard hygiene food practices in Abia state
University, Uturu?
4. What
are the reasons behind negative customer’s perception of hygiene practice among
food vendors in tertiary institutions in Abia state University, Uturu?
vi.
What are the possible
ways of practicing proper hygiene practices among food vendors in the study
area?
1.5
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The study will be of
benefit to the following individuals and organizations:
The food vendors and
owners will benefit from the study, as the findings of the study will expose
them to customer’s perception on hygiene practice. The study will also assist them in exploring the
ways to stimulate positive consumers’ attitudes towards safety of food vendors. The findings of the study will be published on the
internet which will give information to the tourism customers on
The findings of the study
will enable food vendors to know customer’s perception on
hygiene practice. The study will further help food
vendors and restaurants identify the reasons for their customer’s
negative perception on safety and hygiene practice.
Talk show and seminars will be conducted in hotels as a way of creating
awareness on customer’s perception on safety and hygiene practice.
The study will contribute
to the existing volume of knowledge on customer’s
perception on hygiene practice to students. It will
also be of benefit to students and scholars that will engage in the research on
this study in the tourism industry as the result from this study will form a
baseline for them. A copy of this research work will be place in the school
library and also published in the internet so that students can have access to
the study.
The study will benefit
the general public as the findings from the study which could be through
internet publication, seminar, radio and television show will increase the
knowledge on customer’s perception on safety and
hygiene practice.
1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The scope of this
research work is predicated on the assessment of
customer’s perception on hygiene practice among food vendors in tertiary
institutions, a study of Abia state University, Uturu. The study focused on how
customers perceive food handling, hygiene practices and serving practices among
food vendors in the study area.
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