Fulfilment of technical and hygienic requirements among street food vendors in Slovenia

Prevolšek, Vanja (author), Ovca, Andrej (author), Jevšnik, Mojca (author)

Purpose – This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the compliance of hygienic and technical standards of street food vendors in Slovenia with the requirements of the general hygienic food principals set in the Codex Alimentarius and Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs. Design/methodology/approach – Food vendors were observed directly and discretely using a semi-structured observation sheet that allowed fast evaluation. The employee’s behaviour was not affected during the observations because they were not aware of being observed. Each observation lasted approximately 30 min. Food vendors were divided into groups according to their location, type of facility, number of employees and type of food sold. Findings – Depending on the type of street vendor, more inconsistencies were found amongst food stands compared to food trucks and kiosks. Most food trucks and kiosks scored very high in both personal and hygienic-technical standards. Some of the major inconsistencies were lack of suitably located washbasins, improper hand-washing technique, improper waste management, working surfaces that were inadequately separated from consumers, and inconsistent maintenance of the cold chain. Food handlers have been confirmed as a critical risk factor. Research limitations/implications – Despite methodology validation, the data was collected by a single observer, limiting the ability to obtain a more reliable estimate of the observations. The sample was disproportionate according to the type of street food facilities. Practical implications – The results provide a basis for (1) national professional guidelines of good hygiene practices for food business operators, which should cover street food vendors more extensively in future updates, and (2) the development of food safety training programmes tailored for street vendors. Originality/value – The study provides valuable insights into current hygienic-technical conditions of the street food vending sector.

• Language: English
• Keywords: street food, mobile vendors, food safety, good hygienic practices, discrete observation, Slovenia
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: ZF - Faculty of Health Sciences
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2021
• Number of pages: Str. 105-123
• Numbering: Vol. 123, no. 13
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-126311
• UDC: 614.31:641
• ISSN on article: 0007-070X
• DOI: 10.1108/BFJ-11-2020-1056
• COBISS.SI-ID: 60003843
• Publication date in RUL: 16.04.2021

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: British food journal
• Shortened title: Br. food j.
• Publisher: Emerald
• ISSN: 0007-070X
• COBISS.SI-ID: 25119744

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Projects

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: P3-0388
• Name: Mehanizmi varovanja zdravja