The food safety knowledge of street food vendors and the sanitary compliance of their vending facilities, Johannesburg, South Africa

Abstract The inadequate food safety knowledge of street food vendors has proved to be an obstacle in ensuring the safety of street food. The aim of this study was to assess the food safety knowledge of street food vendors in Johannesburg, South Africa, and to evaluate both the compliance of their street food vending facilities with food safety regulations and the monitoring of these facilities. A cross‐sectional survey was conducted in which data was collected from 315 street food vendors and 155 street food vending facilities. The majority (61.3%) of the street food vendors were female, and most (64.1%) had not attended a food safety training course. Only a few (12.1%) of the vendors knew the correct minimum internal cooking temperature for stuffed chicken, while 40% knew the correct temperature for cold storage and 39% the correct temperature for hot storage of ready‐to‐eat foods. Most (52%) of the street food vendors had moderate food safety knowledge, while most of the street food vending facilities (68.3%) had been inspected by health inspectors. The overall food safety knowledge of street food vendors in the Johannesburg metropole was moderate and both the level of compliance with food safety regulations and monitoring by authorities were satisfactory. However, street food vendors possessed inadequate knowledge concerning internal cooking temperatures as well as the appropriate hot and cold storage temperature for ready‐to‐eat foods. More training is required to ensure that street food vendors improve their food safety knowledge.