Abstract
Background: Foodborne diseases are on the increase throughout the world due to poor attention given to personal and food hygiene measures by both lawmakers and people in charge of food preparation, especially in the developing countries. Objective: To examine the knowledge and practices of food vendors operating in urban Kano on personal and food hygiene. Materials and Methods: We used a descriptive cross-sectional design to study a random sample of 380 food vendors in Kano metropolis. Data were collected using pretested interviewer administered semi-structured questionnaire. Data were s analyzed using Epi Info software, version 3.5.1. ± Results: The mean age of the food vendors was 27.78 7.63 years. The majority (61.1%) of them were men (53.2%), married (61.8%), and had at least secondary education (51.1%). More than two-thirds (89.7%) had fair knowledge of personal hygiene,althoughtherewere deï¬ciencies insomeofthekeyhygieneareas,but62.4%and36.6%hadgoodand fair knowledge of food hygiene, respectively. Most of the food vendors had good practices of personal hygiene (93.2%). Paradoxically,only 17.1%had goodpractice offood hygiene.Furthermore, morethanhalf (54.2%)showedbad workplace hygiene practices. Conclusion: Food vendors operating in Kano generally knew about personal and food hygiene, but this was not reflected in their hygienic practices. It is the statutory responsibility of the environmental health ofï¬cers to safeguard and implement foodhygienelawsinNigeria.Butdespitetheavailablestructureandpersonnelatthelocalgovernmentarealevel,thelaws are still inactive. The health authorities at the state and federal levels should empower the environmental health ofï¬cers with thenecessarypolicyandlogistic supporttheyrequire tofully implement thelawsin Kanoand Nigeriaasawhole.The laws should also be reviewed to ensure more severe penalty for offenders.