ASSESSMENT OF CUSTOMER’S PERCEPTION ON HYGIENE PRACTICES AMONG FOOD VENDORS IN ABIA STATE UNIVERSITY UTURU, NIGERIA.

Abstract

The study focuses on assessment of customer’s perception on hygiene practices among food vendors in Abia State University Uturu, Nigeria. The objectives of the study are to: ascertain the perception of customers towards food handling and hygiene practices among food vendors, determine the customer’s attitude towards hygiene practices among food vendors and identify the reasons behind negative customer’s perception of hygiene practice among food vendors. To achieve these objectives: descriptive survey design was used. The population comprised of 200 undergraduate students of Abia State University Uturu, Nigeria.  The sample size is 133 respondents. In line with the stated objectives, the data was collected through the use of structured questionnaire. The result shows that Unkept service environment can expose customers to foodborne illness and food vendors who do not Wash their hands often before serving of food can contaminate food. The study concludes that food vendors environment with high level of cleanliness and sanitation seems to attract more new customers as well as retaining existing ones than ones with dirty and unkept environment. The study recommends that training of food handling personnel is critical, and food vendors should be aware of their role and responsibility in protecting the food from contamination.