“Waste Management Practices of Street Food

Vendors of Fish ball, Kikiam, Chicken ball and Samalamig

Introduction

Nutrition is an input to and foundation for health and development.

Better nutrition means stronger immune systems, less illness and better health. It is a prime entry point to ending poverty and a milestone to achieving better quality of life. Without proper nutrition malnutrition can occur, due to inadequate intake of protein, energy, and micro nutrients such as vitamins (WHO, 2001).

To promote adequate nutrition, food safety in the Philippines has received increasing attention due to a number of factors. First, a respectable proportion of the food establishments are of the small and medium scale, where strict implementation of food safety regulations is wanting. Second, poverty remains a major factor to reckon with, and consequently results to low literacy on food safety, especially in the rural areas. Third, consumers enjoy wider choices and lower prices under a more liberalized trade regime but are usually not so knowledgeable on the production, storage and handling processes of the available commodities. Fourth, the changing lifestyle of many Filipinos has forced them to rely on cooked foods which are questionable in terms of their cleanliness.

Nowadays, food handlers are definitely observable in their food handling mismanagement, because of this, laws were implemented so that entrepreneurs/ vendors would ensure that the public’s concerns on food security and safety are acknowledged and responded to.

Today, the policy framework and implementing guidelines for food safety and hygiene in the country are now in place. Sanitation has been gaining increased attention recently due to the rising number of food-borne illnesses and malnutrition worldwide. Even though there are food regulatory laws, proper management of nutritional sanitation remains to be an issue in many countries including Philippines.

Some major risk factors of food borne illness are related to employee behaviors and preparation practices in food service establishments (WHO, 2000).The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines street foods as “ready-to-eat foods and beverages prepared and sold in streets and other similar public places”.

Street foods have become popular not only as source of convenient and affordable food, but as main source of livelihood. However, street food vendors over look the importance of the safety and nutritional quality of the food they serve which can cause food-related diseases, even poisoning and death to costumers, particularly school children.

There are different agencies, who execute the Philippine National Standard for food products like the Department of Health, Bureau of Food and Drugs, Department of Agriculture, and other minor agencies. One of the major agencies is the Department of Health, which is the administrative department of the Philippines, not only in charge for ensuring access to quality  services but also in the promotion of quality foods.

With all these factors in mind, the researchers decided to conduct the study to assess the perceived quality and safety of street foods on M.L Quezon St. Brgy. San Roque Antipolo City because of the numerous schools, colleges, hospitals and other establishments like malls and supermarkets (wherein these areas attract a large number of people which may serve as potential customers to the street vendors) that reside in the aforementioned Barangay to help the street vendors in evaluating their level of adherence on the protocol on food and sanitation, and from it relay the appropriate correction, or modification to improve the quality and safety of street foods especially to the vendors selling fish balls, kikiam, squid ball, chicken balls and samalamig.

• Objective

To assess the nutritional value in street foods and the street vendors’ performance in terms of safety and quality of their products.

Project site

Review of related Literature

• Conceptual frameworkThe conceptual framework maps the entire process of

the researchers’ study. The study is entitled “Waste Management Practices of SelectedFood Establishment”. The Philippine National Standard for food products and its implications to the practices of street food vendors in handling food products. The study aims to assess the street vendors and consumers of their awareness of the nutrition and sanitation with regards to street foods. The study) began with the selection of the location, respondents and their profile (age and highest educational attainment) The chosen location was M.L Quezon St. Brgy. San Roque Antipolo City because of numerous schools, colleges , cathedral, Dimasalang Park and other establishments in the Barangay that attract a large number of people. The respondents were the street vendors and consumers within the said location above. After the establishing the location and respondents, the researchers then moved on to the development of the questionnaire as the research instrument to assess for both of the respondents’ knowledge on the nutrition.

Scope and Limitation

This study is primarily focused on the assessment of the nutritional value in street foods and the street vendors’ performance in terms of safety and quality of their products. The researchers aim to describe the compliance of the street vendors in handling food products according to the policies and protocol implemented by the Philippine National Standard for Food Products in terms of nutrition and sanitation. This study will be conducted on M.L Quezon St. Brgy. San Roque Antipolo City. This study aims to include participants with the following criteria: Fish ball; Kikiam; Squid balls; chicken balls and Samalamig (Sago’t gulaman, Buko juice or Pineapple juice).

• There were two sets of respondents for this research: the first were the street vendors in M.L Quezon St. Brgy. San Roque Antipolo City and offers the following street foods: Fish ball; Kikiam; Squid balls; chicken balls and Samalamig (Sago’t gulaman, Buko juice or Pineapple juice). The other set or respondents were the 50 consumers in M.L Quezon St. Brgy. San Roque Antipolo City with the ages of 12 and above. Consumers with ages from 12 years old below were excluded from the study because they may not provide reliable and apt answers to the questions regarding nutrition and sanitation because of their inadequate knowledge regarding these matters .It is important that the groups to be selected be an eligible representative of the population that fits the criteria presented and the sampling method used. For the consumers, the researchers used the simple random sampling in selecting respondent.

• Methodology

This chapter discusses the research method used in the study, the respondent, the instruments used, the data gathering procedure and the statistical treatment utilized in the analysis of data.

RESEARCH DESIGNThe researchers used a descriptive method in the study. Descriptive

research is mainly performed when a researcher wants to gain a better understanding of a topic. The researchers believe that the descriptive method is the appropriate in the study. The main goal of this type of research is to describe the data and characteristics about what is being studied. It is best to use for its fact finding study and its involvement in the collection of data through answering questionnaires, observations and interviews in order to accomplish the aims of the study. (Shuttleworth,2008).The researchers want to describe how the street vendors adhere on the Philippine National Standard for food products with the following criteria: the nutritional value of the street foods they are selling; the cleanliness of the materials being used; the sanitary practices performed by the vendors; the vendors general appearance in terms of hygiene and behavior in preparing and handling food products.

The researchers would also find out the consumers’ assessment of the street vendors and the street foods in terms of sanitary practices performed and nutritional value from the food products that they purchase. The researchers also conduct observation and interview to the respondents to support.

• Result of Discussion

The street vendors’ should be knowledgeable regarding Food Nutrition and Sanitation based on the Philippine National Standards for Food Products to ensure the safety of the consumers’

Street vendors should maintain a clean environment and prevent foods from being contaminated by placing covers on the foods being vended and protected from biological, chemical and physical hazards. The consumers should be knowledgeable on the basic rights to sufficient quantities of safe and nutritious foods with the help of Government officials by holding an informative drive for the consumers in regarding Nutritional Content and Sanitation of the food being sold by the street vendors .

The Sanitation Department should conduct a food monitoring on street vendors every three months to know if the street vendors are following the protocols and applying the discussion from the seminars. And for the future researchers, further study on the improvement on the proper practices of street vendors regarding nutrition and sanitation is recommended to make the study more meaningful and accurate; the use of more subjects as well as inclusion of more variables are recommended; and enough time for extensive study must be provided to the researchers.

• Conclusion and Recommendation

In accord of the significant and conclusions of the research, the following recommendations are offered.

• CONCLUSIONS

These are the conclusions that show the significant findings of the study:

• Majority of the consumers - respondents are within the age brackets of 17-21. It implies that teenagers to young adults are into street foods, wherein they don’t give too much importance to their health.

• Majority of the vendor’s age bracket is 32-36. It implies that this age bracket is dominant because those are the people who already have families to support and so they need more income.

• Majority of the consumers - respondents highest educational attainment is high school graduates. Mostly, students and young people are fond of eating street foods, due to its nearness from schools and its affordability.

• The respondents that they are aware about the nutritional value present from the street foods.

• The consumers - respondents agreed that the vendors often adhere in maintaining cleanliness of the environment. Street has a nature of being polluted and contaminated place, but still the vendors somehow take action to improve their environmental sanitation.

• The consumers - respondents agree that the street vendor does not adhere with the proper sanitation practices, especially hand washing before handling food products. This shows that the street vendors are not aware of the risk of contaminants coming from handling of foods without performing proper hand washing.

• Most of the respondents rate street vendors within the range of 50-69% as adherence in the proper guidelines. This implies that the sanitary practices and nutritional value in food of the street vendors are in average level and needs necessary actions to correct their inconsistencies.

• Problem encounter in the conduct of the study

• Lesson learned in managing the implementation of the study