Food safety perspectives and practices of consumers and vendors in Nigeria: A review

Self Cite

This study examines the food safety beliefs of vendors and consumers in a mid-sized Nigerian city using data from in-depth interviews and cognitive mapping techniques drawn from ethnography. We examine vendors’ and consumers’ perspectives on which foods are safe, which are not, and why; the place of foodborne illness among other health concerns and motivators of food choice; and how salient food safety is as a concern for vendors. The main perceived causes of unsafe food were found to be chemicals and insects; while bacterial illnesses were widely mentioned as a cause of gastrointestinal symptoms, these were not necessarily linked to food in consumers’ minds. Respondents agreed strongly that certain foods (e.g., cowpea, beef, green leafy vegetables, and local rice) were less safe than others. The importance of food safety as a choice motivator among consumers varies depending on framing: when asked directly, it was prominent and closely related to visible cleanliness, but concerns about food safety competed in consumers’ minds against other salient motivators of food and vendor choice, such as price. Most vendors did not see food safety, cleanliness, or hygiene as a key trait of a successful vendor, and just over half of vendors had any concern about the safety of their food. In conclusion, we note the implications for intervention designs, particularly the need to build upon consumers’ and vendors’ current beliefs and practices related to food safety in order to make foodborne disease prevention a more salient concern in food choice.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Is Safe and How Much Does It Matter? Food Vendors’ and Consumers’ Views on Food Safety in Urban Nigeria

Nordhagen

Lee²,

Onuigbo-Chatta³

et al. 2022

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“…Comparing to existing guidance on best practices for food safety in traditional markets [ 35 ], some elements are mentioned (e.g., vendors wearing clean clothes, waste managed, separating products, vendor’s observable hygiene); others are not or rarely so (e.g., cold storage, use of clean water, short fingernails, avoiding eating/smoking, handwashing). This offers an interesting contrast to findings from cross-sectional “knowledge, attitude, and practice” surveys from Nigeria, which tend to ask directed questions on these expert-identified best-practices, and in response often find relatively high levels of knowledge and self-reported best practices along these dimensions [ 21 ]. Of note, certain hazards like aflatoxin, known to be present in maize and other foods in Nigeria [ 36 , 37 ], were never mentioned, and neither vendors nor consumers had any strategies to detect or avoid them.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…Indeed, studies elsewhere have documented that consumers and vendors have strategies they use to mitigate food safety risks, such as buying from trusted sources [ 19 , 20 ]. Most research in Nigeria and other LMICs, however, used a top-down approach, focusing on whether vendors (and, to a lesser extent, consumers) follow standard expert-agreed-upon practices to minimize food safety risks (such as cleaning utensils or washing surfaces) [ 21 ]. It has rarely aimed to obtain a “bottom-up” understanding of how consumers and vendors may (or may not) devise their own strategies to guide decisions related to food safety.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Sometimes You Get Good Ones, and Sometimes You Get Not-so-Good Ones”: Vendors’ and Consumers’ Strategies to Identify and Mitigate Food Safety Risks in Urban Nigeria

Nordhagen

Lee²,

Onuigbo-Chatta³

et al. 2022

Self Cite

This paper uses detailed data from in-depth interviews with consumers (n = 47) and vendors (n = 37) in three traditional markets in Birnin Kebbi, Nigeria. We used observations from those markets to examine how consumers and vendors identify and avoid or manage food safety risks and whom they hold responsible and trust when it comes to ensuring food safety. At the level of the vendor, consumers mentioned seeking “clean” or “neat” vendors or stalls. Cleanliness was primarily related to the appearance of the vendor, stall, and surroundings; reliance on trusted, known vendors was also noted. Food products themselves were largely evaluated based on visual cues: insects, holes, and colors—with some reliance on smell, also. Similarly, vendors assessed safety of food from suppliers based on a visual assessment or reliance on trusted relationships. On the second research question, both consumers and vendors largely placed responsibility for ensuring food safety on government; when asked specifically, consumers also named specific steps that vendors could take to ensure food safety. Consumers and vendors also generally felt that they could limit many food safety risks through identifying the “good” products in the market or from suppliers. The paper discusses the implications of these results for behavior change interventions.

“…Although we do not have specific FBD estimates for each country, the FBD burden is higher in Southern Africa, South America, Southeast Asia, and the Western Pacific Regions than in North America and Europe [2]. As Nordhagen (2022) [33] pointed out in a review of food safety perspectives and practices, foodborne diseases are becoming increasingly problematic as countries develop and urbanize. Therefore, new food safety studies should focus more on understanding individuals' motivations, beliefs, and values about food safety in specific cultural contexts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

What Motivates Consumer Food Safety Perceptions and Beliefs? A Scoping Review in BRICS Countries

Zanetta

Mucinhato

Hakim

et al. 2022

This scoping review aimed to map the main evidence in the existing literature regarding consumer perceptions and beliefs regarding food safety in the context of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) countries. Articles were searched in the Web of Science, Scopus, and SciELO databases. The last search was performed on November 2021. Only the studies conducted within BRICS countries were included. The synthesis aimed to group similarities in consumer beliefs and perceptions of food safety. After screening, 74 eligible articles were included in the study. Of the 74 studies analyzed, 49 (66.2%) were carried out in China, 14 (18.9%) in Brazil, 5 (6.8%) in India,4 (5.4%) in South Africa, and 2 (2.7%) in Russia. Thirty-three motivators of perceptions and beliefs regarding food safety were identified. Food safety motivators were grouped into three categories: (1) sociodemographic characteristics, (2) cognitive aspects, and (3) other. In the “sociodemographic characteristics” category, the motivator with the highest number of corresponding results was education level (results = 22), followed by income (results = 22), both positive drivers for food safety perceptions. The “cognitive aspects” category comprised the majority of the identified motivators. Concern for food safety (results = 32) and risk perception (results = 30) were the motivators with the highest number of results among all categories and motivators. Finally, the main motivator in the “other” category was place of consumption/purchase (results = 8), focusing on consumers underestimating the risk of having a foodborne disease when eating away from home. China and Brazil are leading the way in studies on this topic. Consumers’ perceptions are influenced by socioeconomic characteristics (e.g., age, gender, education level, income), cognitive aspects (e.g., knowledge, risk perception, food concerns, previous experience with food safety incidents) and other situational factors (e.g., price, place of purchase, traceability).