Knowledge, attitude and practice of tomato retailers towards hygiene and food safety in Harar and Dire Dawa, Ethiopia

Gemeda, Biruk Alemu; Amenu, Kebede; Girma, Sisay; Grace, Delia; Srinivasan, Ramasamy; Roothaert, Ralph; Knight-Jones, Theodore J.D.

doi:10.1016/j.foodcont.2022.109441

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…From the qualitative study, there was no sufficient cleaning and hygienic practices that reduce contamination. In another study in the areas about 20% of tomato traders practiced washing tomatoes after they purchased them and most of them (96.6%) used just water and never used detergent or soap to wash fresh tomatoes (Gemeda et al, 2023). Additionally, the quality of water used for washing and cleaning tomatoes is also questionable (Figure 3).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential food safety risks in tomato value chains in urban settings of Eastern Ethiopia: a qualitative investigation

Amenu,

Megersa,

Jaleta

et al. 2023

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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BackgroundThe value chains of tomatoes in Ethiopia are largely informal which may pose potential food safety risks. Value chains (VCs) mapping was carried out with emphasis on tomatoes in two major cities in eastern Ethiopia—Harar and Dire Dawa—which were assessed to identify practices likely to result in unsafe food, considering production, transportation, retail, preparation, and consumption.MethodsQualitative methods were used to map the VCs to understand the flows, actors, and practices. Group discussions and key informant interviews were performed to better understand the processes, practices, beliefs, and food safety risks in these VCs.ResultsThe two cities are supplied by two vegetable VCs: the first and larger being from distant producers in central Ethiopia, and the second from surrounding rural and peri-urban producers. The long-distance VCs involve producers, brokers, transporters, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers. The local producers, however, bring their fresh products directly to the cities without the involvement of VC actors other than final retailers and consumers. The study suggests microbiological contamination risks along tomato VCs, potentially including soil contamination, use of sewerage-contaminated irrigation water, untreated manure, unhygienic handling and storage conditions, and dirty contact surfaces during transportation and retailing. Tomatoes are mostly harvested by hand picking, collected, and sorted on the ground exposing to sunlight and physical bruising with potential contamination. More importantly, tomatoes are widely consumed raw without “a kill-step” that certainly contributes to food-borne infections. Suggestions by study participants for improving food safety and hygiene include funding toward improved infrastructure and facilities in the sectors, supporting VC actors with improved technology for quality production, and increasing awareness of good and hygienic practices. Consumers were particularly concerned about contamination with agrochemicals without much emphasis on the potential microbial contaminants. Fresh tomatoes are prepared in a variety of ways and are often consumed raw or slightly cooked. Further recommendations included using health extension workers to conduct awareness campaigns on improved food safety and hygienic practices.ConclusionThe qualitative VC mapping generated useful information for designing intervention strategies, especially targeting developing food safety interventions and an awareness communication campaign.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential food safety risks in tomato value chains in urban settings of Eastern Ethiopia: a qualitative investigation

Amenu,

Megersa,

Jaleta

et al. 2023

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

Self Cite

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“…Gemeda et al [24] observed vegetable food safety; contamination with soil was the main issue of tomato dealers. The significance of quality water and sanitation for food safety was unknown to about (17 per cent) of street sellers.…”

Section: Review Of Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Consumers’ Attitudes and Constraints towards Food Safety and Hygiene Practices in Ludhiana City

Lakshmi,

Rathore

2024

AJOCR

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The study attempted to analyse the consumers’ attitudes towards food safety and hygiene practices. Further, an effort was made to analyse the constraints towards food safety and hygiene practices. A total of 200 consumers were randomly selected. The results of the study revealed that street food is not good for health (2.96), followed by food poisoning may occur after consumption of street food (2.28), it is important to follow hygiene practices (1.60) and contamination may occur due to poor hygiene practices (1.60) to maintain food safety and hygiene practices. Four factors came out from the study that confines consumers toward food safety and hygiene practices i.e. food safety knowledge and training, food poisoning, hygiene practices and food contamination. Lack of knowledge, adulterated food and poor hygiene practices were major constraints faced by consumers. The study also recommended that education and training programs on food safety and hygiene practices help create awareness among consumers.

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“…A number of research studies revealed that foods are carriers of foodborne diseases (Girma et al, 2014; Islam et al, 2023; Verma et al, 2023). Gemeda et al (2023), Azanaw et al (2022), Al et al (2012), Girma et al (2014), and Verma et al (2023) stated that food handlers, particularly the street food handlers were not well educated and could not adhere to food safety and hygiene protocols. Studies in Northern Ethiopia (Adhena et al, 2023), Vietnam (Samapundo et al, 2016), Dessie Town in Ethiopia (Adane et al, 2018), Bangladesh (Meher et al, 2022), and Ambato, Ecuador (Rosales et al, 2023) stated that their respondents in the studies were either illiterates or just have primary education.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges with food safety adoption: A review

Madilo,

Kunadu,

Tano‐Debrah

2024

Journal of Food Safety

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Globally, the risk of foodborne diseases is high among the young, old, pregnant and immunocompromised groups. Strategies to improve safe food supply are poorly understood among stakeholders. In this paper, we discuss the importance of the adoption of food safety standards, the effects of non‐compliance of food safety protocols, consumer‐producer awareness of food safety, and the challenges involved in the adoption of food safety protocols. The major challenges include gaps in dissemination of relevant information, the cost involved in adoption of many food safety programs; low educational levels of food handlers, insufficient food testing laboratories; inadequate funding, equipment, and skilled personnel; and cost of training and education; and lack of coordination among organizations handling food safety issues. Building competencies of food safety personnel, inspectorates, national or regional laboratories and adequate resource support to industry and supporting agencies will enhance safety of the global food supply.

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Knowledge, attitude and practice of tomato retailers towards hygiene and food safety in Harar and Dire Dawa, Ethiopia

Cited by 10 publications

References 20 publications

Potential food safety risks in tomato value chains in urban settings of Eastern Ethiopia: a qualitative investigation

Potential food safety risks in tomato value chains in urban settings of Eastern Ethiopia: a qualitative investigation

Consumers’ Attitudes and Constraints towards Food Safety and Hygiene Practices in Ludhiana City

Challenges with food safety adoption: A review

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