KNOWLEDGE ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE OF FOOD HYGIENE AMONG FOOD VENDORS IN A SELECTED TERTIARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION IN BENIN CITY EDO STATE

The study was designed to investigate knowledge, attitude and practice of Food Hygiene among Food Vendors in a selected tertiary educational institution in Benin City, Edo State using descriptive cross- sectional survey design. Snowball sampling technique was used to select 250 food vendors involved in the study. A validated and reliability tested structured questionnaire was utilised to collect data. The study was guided by four research questions and two hypotheses. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 21. Results showed that the majority of food vendors were females, of age 31 years and above, with tertiary education, Christians and Binis. The knowledge of food vendors was good with a mean value of 1.85(62%). However, a poor knowledge was observed in ‘‘ Maintenance of food hygiene which involves only the processes during food preparation with a mean value of 1.14. The attitude of the vendors was positive with a mean value of 1.73 (57.6%). It was observed also; that food hygiene practice was positive with a mean value of 2.06. However, poor attitude and practice were noted in some areas. Two hypotheses were tested and result observed tha’ t there is significant relationship between the level of education of food vendors and their knowledge of food hygiene; (χ2 = 18.75; df =2; p=0.000) and lastly, there is relationship between the sex of the food vendors and their practice of food hygiene (χ2=51.4; df= 2; p= 0.000). Conclusively, the knowledge, attitude and practice of food hygiene were moderately satisfactory. However, periodic health education and medical examination are recommended for the food vendors.