A Comparative Study on Food Hygiene and Safety Practices of Local and Contemporary Bread Bakers in the Gambia

Uyamadu Evelyn Anuli^1, , Haita Ndimballan², Alasana Kanteh² and Modou Lamin Bah²

¹Department of Public and Environmental Health, School of Medicine and Allied Health Science, The University of the Gambia

²Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, The Gambia

Cite this paper:
Uyamadu Evelyn Anuli, Haita Ndimballan, Alasana Kanteh and Modou Lamin Bah. A Comparative Study on Food Hygiene and Safety Practices of Local and Contemporary Bread Bakers in the Gambia. American Journal of Food Science and Technology. 2022; 10(4):153-161. doi: 10.12691/ajfst-10-4-2

Abstract

Bread is a significant staple food that can be consumed without further processing. However, given that eating contaminated bread could have a negative impact on consumers' health, its safety has become a top concern for the food industry. The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of bread makers on food safety and hygiene. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study involving 416 bread bakers from the registered local and contemporary bread bakeries in GBA and Brikama. Data was collected using a structured and semi-structured questionnaire which was interviewer-administered and observation checklist. Thirty bread samples each from the bakeries and the retailer shops were analyzed for pathogenic contamination. Data were analyzed using a descriptive statistic, chi-square, and t-test at P=0.05. The majority of the respondents were males 96.4% and in the age range of 25-54 years. Several (88.7%) had good knowledge of food safety and hygiene. The overall attitude scores revealed that about 94% of the respondents had a poor attitude towards food safety and 86.6% of the respondents in two bakeries had fair practice towards food hygiene and safety (70% and 16.8%) respectively. There was a significant relationship between the knowledge (p=0.001), attitude (p=0.002), and practices (p=0.001) of the respondents in local and contemporary bakeries. Bread analysis showed that only a third of the bread sampled from the two bakeries (50% and 40%) were contaminated, while almost all the bread sampled from the bread sellers (40% and 20%) were contaminated. The bread is more likely to be contaminated by pathogenic and non-pathogenic microorganisms due to poor bakery hygiene conditions, bakers' handling of bakery procedures, and vendors' attitudes. Therefore, all bakery employees and bread vendors should be trained on proper handling of bread to prevent outbreaks of food borne illnesses.

Keywords:
knowledge attitude practice bread bakers food hygiene & safety

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