Sustainable street vended foods and food safety: a conceptual framework

Abstract

Street vended foods are the vehicle of pathogens transmission resulting in foodborne diseases. The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual public health risks framework of consuming road vended foods based on detailed review of existing literature in developing countries. Although street food is enjoying a wide range of acceptability, microorganisms from the genus Campylobacter, Clostridium, Salmonella, Escherichia, Listeria, Shigella, Yersinia, Vibrio, Staphylococcus and Norovirus are commonly isolated pathogens and recognised as the cause foodborne diseases. Although there is dearth of data and information on foodborne diseases in Nigeria, more than 200,000 are suspected to die each year and about 124,400 deaths of Nigerian children under the age of five occurred in 2008, due to diarrheal disease. Street vended foods are riddled with problems and numerous points of contamination. In conclusion education, inspections, surveillance of foodborne disease outbreaks policies and certification should be implemented in Nigeria.