Local food joints in the Tamale Metropolis hygiene, food safety practices and regulations

Abstract

Local food joints in the Tamale Metropolis have become very popular due to the lucrative nature of this business. This notwithstanding, most of the food joints in the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly are often susceptible to unsafe abuses, in many cases from the raw material handling, through processing to the finished stage of consumption thus contaminating the food. The main objective of the study was to investigate the hygienic and food safety practices of Food Joints in the Tamale Metropolis in the Northern Region of Ghana. The study used a mixed research approach, and also adopted a descriptive cross-sectional design. A total of 240 food vendors were randomly sampled from Six (6) communities in the Tamale Metropolis using simple random sampling. The study used the questionnaire along with observation to collect data from local food joint operators. In addition, an interview was conducted for two health inspectors. The data was entered into a statistical software for quantitative statistical analysis (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences–SPSS, 23.0). Data analysis was descriptive statistics involving computation of mean, counts, standard deviation and correlation to facilitate the interpretation of the data gathered. The major findings of the study were that the physical state of the food vending places was satisfactorily healthy; the safety of food vendors’ food handling practices was compromised; the institutional set-up was not effectively promoting conformance to the food vending controls; and most of the foods were contaminated above acceptable levels for consumption. The study again revealed that 31.2% of the respondents obtained their raw food transported to them by vehicle, 68.8% obtained their raw food by human transport, and this could compromise the safety of food vendors’ food handling practices; In addition, 68.8% of the respondents stored their raw foods through means of refrigeration and 31.2% of the respondents transports home their raw foods as a means to store them. All these practices contribute in contaminating the food. Monitoring and regulating had a statistically significant positive relations with the performance. The sanitary inspectors were able to inspect between 35 and 40 food outlets. 31.2% of the respondents have undergone cookery training whiles 68.8% have not undergone cookery training, The study concluded that: sanitary and hygienic practices among respondents are demonstrated on how the food is handled from the source to the food vendor’s place. The nature of the raw state of the food, their carriage and storage contribute to hygiene issues. The study recommended food vendors to practice proper personal hygiene and to avoid making direct skin contact with food. The Metropolitan Assembly and the Food and Drugs Authority were advised to advocate for political neutrality in their duties and to advocate for provision of logistics to facilitate inspection.