Street food vendors' hygienic practices in some Asian and EU countries - A survey

The aim of this study was to assess street food vendors' hygienic practices in four Asian and the EU countries according to the Codex code of practice general principles on food hygiene and other relevant documents and observations and to provide information that may clarify certain misconceptions on hygienic practices related to street food. The materials were 440 street food vendors in China, Thailand, Greece and Poland. Specially designed questionnaire allowed fast data collection. Many non-compliances in the hygienic practices was found. Hygiene requirements in section of hygiene of equipment and food preparation and serving were better implemented than in personal hygiene. In surveyed EU countries, hygiene of equipment and food preparation generally showed higher conformity than in Asian countries. However, the most complete implementation of the principles of personal hygiene was shown for Thailand. The level of fulfillment of the hygienic requirements was most strongly influenced by the type of street food vendor, both in the section of personal hygiene and hygiene of equipment and food preparation and serving. The results of this work should not discourage to eat street food, but to support the reasonable choice of eating-places, according to basic food hygiene knowledge, to minimize food poisoning risk.