KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE OF FOOD HYGIENE AMONG FOOD VENDORS IN LAFIA, NASARAWA STATE, NIGERIA

Most nations, including Nigeria, have large populations that consume street food, and most of those who would not otherwise be employed make a living by selling it. Because the majority of street sellers are underprivileged, illiterate, and care little to nothing about food safety and hygiene, serious worries about the safety of these meals have been growing. This study evaluated the actions, attitudes, and knowledge of food vendors in Lafia Town, Nasarawa State, with regard to food safety. A basic random sampling procedure was used to choose a sample of 261 respondents for a descriptive cross-sectional survey design. A methodical questionnaire was employed to gather information. Descriptive statistics (frequency percentage, mean, and standard deviation) were used to analyse the data, and Chi-square was used to test hypotheses at the 5% significance level. The research results revealed that the participants' average age was 39.20 ± 9.536. Considering the respondents' general level of knowledge, most of 234 (89.7%) have a good comprehension of the significance of safety of food. Most of respondents, or 230 (88.1%), indicated that vendors of food had a generally positive attitude on food cleanliness. The results demonstrated that the most of respondents, 163 (62.5%), practise good food hygiene. A few of the factors that the study found affected the food vendors' practices of food hygiene were: 100 (38.3), forgetting to follow food hygiene guidelines, 0 (0.0%), not having monitoring teams visit, 22 (8.4%), and not receiving regular scores to check the method of food preparation and how it is served. The respondents' attitude and knowledge levels did not significantly correlate (Fisher's exact 0.918 and p=0.338). According to the study, even though food vendors' knowledge, attitudes, and practices seemed adequate, there is still a need for all parties involved to put in place regulatory measures to guarantee that food vendors adhere to standards appropriate for the public consumption and to continuously raise public awareness of the need of observing food hygiene practices and outbreaks of food-borne illnesses, which are common in our society.