Journal of Food Processing & Technology

Street food on the coast of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil: A study from the socioeconomic and food safety perspectives

International Conference on Food Safety and Regulatory Measures

August 17-19, 2015 Birmingham, UK

Sueli Alves da Silva

Centro Universitário Jorge Amado, Brazil

Posters-Accepted Abstracts: J Food Process Technol

Abstract:

This study sought to characterize street food commercialization on the Salvador coast in Bahia, Brazil based on the socioeconomic, labor and food safety perspectives. An exploratory and quantitative study was conducted on 14 beaches using questionnaires addressing the following areas: The socio-demographic characteristics of the food vendors, characteristics of the work and hygienic and sanitary conditions of the activity. Our study included 247 food vendors with an average age of 40.3 years, of whom 55.9% were women and 48.7% had completed an elementary education or less. The median time spent working in street food vending was nine years and the average working day for the participants was 8.3 hours. Furthermore, 46.2% of the participants worked only on weekends and 72.0% declared that their family income was between one and three times the minimum wage, of which 29.1% had revenue from a source other than street food vending. Manufactured food items were the most common (61.6%), although mineral water/soft drinks (35.8%) and beer (35.2%) were also commonly sold items followed by acarajé (21.9%), coconut water (19.0%), fried fish (14.2%) and abará (12.5%). Only 38.3% of the perishable food items were kept in cooling containers. Of the interviewed individuals, 22.6% declared that they did not sanitize their hands when working, whereas 80.2% admitted to handling food and money simultaneously. Our study reveals the socioeconomic importance of the street food sector as well as the poor hygienic conditions of most street food vendor operations.

Biography :

Email: sueliasilva@gmail.com