Handling and Hygiene Practices of Food Vendors in Rivers State University and Its Environment

The study assessed handling hygiene practices of food vendors in Rivers State University and its environment. A survey research design was adopted for the study while the population consisted of food vendors who prepare and sell ready-to-eat foods in the study area. Snowball sampling technique was used for the study and a total of thirty food vendors constituted the sample size for the study. A self-assessment form was used for data collection and data analyzed with frequency, percentages and Pearson’s correlation. The result showed that majority of the food vendors had no access to portable water and the operating environment untidy. Most (60%) of the food vendors appeared clean and 70% of them use personal protective clothing while 70% and 97% of them handled foods and money with bare hands while serving food. Storage of cooked food was properly kept in covered containers by 70% of the vendors while 60% of the vendors did not separate raw and cooked foods. Seventy seven (77) percent of vendors did not keep cold foods in refrigerators or ice boxes as to maintain the temperature of the food. Only 40% of the food vendors covered unused utensils while 57% of them did not clean utensils properly after use. The study found out that all the food vendors washed utensils with cold soapy water and 90% of the vendors re-used water for washing utensils.