Applying hygiene standards in street restaurants

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Extract from the article: Hygiene in most catering outlets leaves much to be desired. Given the conditions in which most of these restaurants or sales outlets are run, it's easy to see that the food sold there can be a danger to public health.

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Hygiene in most catering outlets leaves much to be desired. Given the conditions in which most of these restaurants or sales outlets are run, it's easy to see that the food sold there can be a danger to public health.

Consumers at risk

Street restaurants that do not comply with hygiene rules expose consumers to illnesses. Despite this, most consumers seem to be tolerant of these risky food practices. In a survey of meat consumers in Lomé commissioned by Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Suisse (VSF-Switzerland) in August 2020, 60% mentioned ‘dirty hands’ as a factor in food contamination, 54% mentioned exposure of food to the open air and 32% mentioned the slaughter of sick animals as another factor. These results show that a large majority of consumers are not unaware of the health risks involved in eating certain street foods in unsanitary conditions. Loyal consumers tend to take account above all of the price of the meals within their reach, and so may already be accustomed to their taste.

Helping to improve hygiene conditions

Efforts to improve food quality do not often involve consumers as a key entity. Supporting actors often focus their actions on vendors, through training and awareness-raising, and on strengthening the authorities' means of control.

It is just as important for consumers to become aware of the important role they have to play in improving the quality of street food. This awareness must be applied when choosing where to buy meals, giving priority to sales outlets that guarantee the best food hygiene conditions.There is a difference between a meat roaster who presents the cuts in a protected box and one who leaves them in the open air.What's more, at the time of purchase, if necessary, the customer should make recommendations to the vendor: tell him, for example, to cover the meat against dust or flies, or to ask about the origin of the meat.The more demanding consumers are, the better traders will be able to improve the quality of their meals and the hygiene of the environment in which they sell.

Source: NGO Vétérinaires Sans Frontières-Suisse (VSF-Switzerland)