Major Risks Related to Street Food Production in Residential Areas in Juja Sub-County, Kiambu County, Kenya

Abstract

There is heavy presence of street food production in Kenya, demanding for proper supervision and taking food safety precautions. The current trend of street food production is spreading beyond major cities to residential areas at an alarming rate. There are various types of risks in all critical control points that require public health intervention because they can be a threat to street food consumers. The aim of this study was to determine the major risks related to street food production practices in JujaSub-County, Kiambu County Kenya. The study adopted descriptive cross-sectional design where observation method was used to collect data from a convenience sample of 248 food handlers operating their food businesses within the Sub County. Descriptive results revealed several major risks key among them being use of recycled deep frying oil and lack of appropriate waste management methods. Moreover, correlation results indicated that major risks related to street food production have an inverse correlation with food hygiene and safety. The study concluded that an increase in major risks related to food production would entirely result to decreased food hygiene and safety. The study recommends the County government of Kiambu through Juja sub-county to provide street food designated areas with permanent structures suitable for food handling and proper training on critical control points to all food handlers.