Food safety knowledge and attitudes among fish vendors in informal markets in Ilorin, Nigeria: A cross-sectional study

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-4282403/v1

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Research Article

Food safety knowledge and attitudes among fish vendors in informal markets in Ilorin, Nigeria: A cross-sectional study

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4282403/v1

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Background

With the rising demand for fish and concerns about foodborne illnesses, understanding vendors' perspectives is critical for enhancing food safety standards. This cross-sectional study assessed food safety knowledge and attitudes among fish sellers operating in informal fish markets in Ilorin Metropolis, Nigeria, using a structured questionnaire administered via face-to-face interviews between October and December 2023.

Methods

A total of 240 fish vendors completed the survey. A stepwise backward binary logistic regression model was used to identify independent factors associated with good knowledge or satisfactory attitudes toward food safety among fish vendors.

Results

Over 62.5% of respondents demonstrated good food safety knowledge, particularly in areas such as personal hygiene and cross-contamination. However, misconceptions about foodborne diseases persist. While attitudes toward food safety were generally positive, certain practices such as wearing protective gear were less endorsed. Demographic factors significantly influenced both knowledge and attitude. Logistic regression analysis revealed that respondents of higher age groups were at least 11 times more likely to have satisfactory attitudes (OR: 10.5, 95% CI: 1.8–62.8, p = 0.015) toward food safety. Also, participants with smaller family sizes were four times more likely to display satisfactory attitudes toward fish safety.

Conclusion

These findings underscore the need for targeted interventions, including training programs and government regulations, to improve fish vendors’ food safety practices. Strengthening education and enforcement measures is crucial for safeguarding public health and enhancing the quality of fish products in Ilorin's informal markets.

Food safety

Fish vendors

Informal markets

Knowledge

Attitudes

Nigeria

Ensuring the safety and quality of food products is paramount to safeguarding public health and preventing foodborne illnesses. Enhancing food safety in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), including Nigeria, is of utmost importance and requires urgent attention [1]. The worldwide demand for fish and fish products is surging, driven by their recognized potential to provide food, nutrition, and livelihoods [2]. Fish are highly perishable commodities that are particularly susceptible to contamination and spoilage if not handled and stored correctly [3, 4]. Fish and aquatic-derived zoonotic diseases are significant challenges in the global aquaculture industry and fishery [5]. These diseases not only affect aquatic animals but also threaten human health [6]. As the world's population continues to grow and international trade in aquaculture and fish has expanded, there is an increasing risk of environmental contamination and the spread of zoonotic diseases from fish to humans [5, 6]. The fish trade in the Ilorin Metropolis thrives in various markets and informal selling points, where vendors play a crucial role in the distribution chain. However, the knowledge and attitudes of fish sellers regarding food safety practices remain relatively underexplored.

Foodborne diseases are increasing in LMICs, with outbreaks often tied to contaminated foods from informal markets [7]. Reducing foodborne illness risk is crucial in LMICs, but many lack the capacity and funding to enforce safety standards [8, 9]. Existing systems, where available, often inadequately cover domestic value chains and traditional markets, which are the main sources of food for most consumers [10, 11]. Strong evidence indicates that a substantial portion of foods (both raw and ready-to-eat) sold in many African markets are contaminated upon purchase [12]. Actors in the Nigerian informal sector are required to provide safe food, often by raising awareness of food safety [13]. Hence, assessing food safety knowledge and attitudes of fish vendors is crucial.

In Nigeria, the informal food sector supplies fresh produce to consumers [14, 15]. However, the lack of proper food safety practices in this sector can pose substantial risks to consumers. Most studies conducted in the study area have focused on food safety knowledge, attitudes, and practices of workers or vendors of other animal protein sources at retail or slaughterhouse levels [16–19] with little or no research addressing the specific knowledge and attitudes of fish vendors toward food safety. In Nigeria, little information exists on fish vendors’ knowledge of food safety [20, 21]. The informal fish markets in the Ilorin Metropolis, Nigeria, represent a crucial source of fresh seafood for local consumers. However, the lack of comprehensive understanding of and adherence to food safety practices among fish sellers may raise significant concerns regarding the safety and quality of fish products. Consequently, there is a pressing need to investigate the current practices and perceptions of fish sellers regarding food safety to identify gaps and formulate targeted interventions aimed at improving food safety standards within local fish markets, thereby safeguarding public health and well-being. This cross-sectional study assessed food safety knowledge and attitudes among fish sellers operating in the Ilorin Metropolis. Understanding the current practices and perceptions of these vendors will enhance the identification of areas for improvement and development of targeted interventions to enhance food safety standards in local fish markets.

Study design, area, and population

This cross-sectional study gathered data from adult fish vendors aged 18 years and above in the Ilorin metropolis of Kwara State, Nigeria, using a structured questionnaire administered via face-to-face interviews between October and December 2023. Non-fish vendors were excluded from this study. Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, Nigeria, lies within the North Central geopolitical zone of the country, situated between latitudes 8° 32' 48'' N to 8° 34' 30'' N and longitudes 4° 32' 15'' E to 4° 34' 83'' E. Ilorin's current metropolitan population is 1,064,000 [22]. Ilorin metropolis was selected as the study location due to its significant fish consumption rates and the presence of major markets like Unity, Oja Oba, Baboko, Kuntu, and Oloje with numerous fish vendors.

The sample size for proportion was calculated using the Open Source Epidemiologic Statistics for Public Health (OpenEpi v3.01), based on an expected prevalence (p) of 64.9% [20], level of confidence (z = 1.96), absolute precision (d = 0.06), and a design effect of 1. This resulted in a sample size of 244 vendors.

The five major markets mentioned above were purposefully selected because of the high number of fish consumers they serve. The vendors were approached every Wednesday between 4:00 pm and 5:00 pm during the sampling period. The vendors were sampled after meeting and obtaining approval from the vendors' heads. The vendors were approached in their stalls and enrolled randomly during each visit. Non-fish vendors were excluded from the study.

Questionnaire design, pre-test, and administration

After a review of published articles [20, 23], the questionnaire was designed and utilized closed-ended questions (Supplementary File 1) to reduce response inconsistencies, improve precision, and enhance data analysis. The questionnaire consists of three distinct sections. The first section collected the demographic information of fish vendors. This section contained variables such as gender, age, family size, educational level, market location, work status, years of experience, electricity, and toilet facilities. The second part consisted of 27 questions (with answers in the "yes" or "no" format) on the food safety knowledge of the fish vendors, which focused on food safety questions on personal hygiene; cross-contamination and hygiene; time, temperature, and quality control; and foodborne disease occurrence. The third part included 14 questions on a 4-point Likert scale (strongly agree, agree, disagree, and strongly disagree).

The questionnaire was reviewed by two food safety experts on food safety for face and content validity as well as ease of administration. The questionnaire was pre-tested with five fish vendors from the Ojo Oba market. The responses obtained during the pre-test were used to improve the quality of the questionnaire before the final administration. Questionnaires completed during the pre-test were not used in the final analysis. A total of 244 fish vendors were approached to participate in this study. However, only 240 respondents provided informed consent and were recruited for this study.

Participants were allowed to provide verbal or written consent and were free to withdraw from the survey at any point. To ensure effective communication, Yoruba-speaking enumerators administered the questionnaire to fish vendors who were comfortable with the local language, while the others were administered in English. The enumerators underwent training to administer paper-and-pencil questionnaires before questionnaire administration proficiently.

Ethical clearance

The questionnaire and methodology for this study was approved by the Ethical Review Committee of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ilorin, Nigeria (s approval number: UERC/FVM/17/32TA036B) in line with the university’s research ethical guideline.

Data management and statistical analysis

Responses from the questionnaires were entered into Microsoft Excel 2016 (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA, USA) and analyzed using SPSS version 25.0 (IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY, USA). Descriptive statistics (frequency, percentages, mean, and standard deviation) were used to summarize the data, whereas a numeric scoring system [24–26] evaluated knowledge and attitude scores. Correct responses to the knowledge questions received a score of "1," while incorrect responses were assigned "0." Likert scale responses for the attitude scores ranged from "3" for "strongly agree" to "0" for "strongly disagree." The total correct score was tallied for each variable. Respondents were categorized based on their scores relative to the mean. Respondents with scores above or below the mean were categorized as satisfactory or unsatisfactory, respectively [27]. Significant demographic variables were analyzed as independent factors associated with good knowledge or satisfactory attitudes toward food safety among fish vendors, using a stepwise, backward binary logistic regression model. The model’s goodness of fit was assessed using the Hosmer-Lemeshow test. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.

Of the 244 questionnaires distributed, 240 respondents consented to participate in this study, resulting in a response rate of 98.4%.

Demographic information of the study participants

The respondents to our survey were mainly in their youth, 156 (65.0%), with the majority at least half of the respondents having a secondary level of education. Male respondents 112 (46.7%) were lower than the females 128 (63.3%) (Table 1). The majority of the respondents had over three years of experience in the job 228 (95.0%), worked full-time 152 (63.3%), and had access to toilet facilities with a water seal at work 164 (68.3%).

Table 1

Socio-demographic information of the respondents
Socio-demographic data	Variable	Frequency	Percent
Gender	Male	112	46.7
	Female	128	53.3
Age (years)	< 21	18	7.5
	21–40	156	65.0
	41–60	56	23.3
	> 60	10	4.2
Education	Non-formal	40	16.7
	Up to Primary	24	10.0
	Up to Secondary	102	42.5
	Up to tertiary	74	30.8
Location	Unity	12	5.0
	Oja Oba	32	13.3
	Baboko	52	21.7
	Kuntu	100	41.7
	Oloje	44	18.3
Work status	Part-time	88	36.7
	Full-time	152	63.3
Experience (years)	0–2	12	5.0
	3–10	126	52.5
	11–20	62	25.8
	> 20	40	16.7
Electricity	None	12	5.0
	Solar	30	12.5
	Government sourced	198	82.5
Toilet facility	Open space	16	6.7
	Non-sanitary	20	8.3
	Sanitary without water-seal	40	16.7
	Sanitary with water-seal	164	68.3

Knowledge of food safety among vendors

Overall, 150 (62.5%) of the respondents, displayed good knowledge of food safety. Over three-quarters of the respondents showed good knowledge of food safety as it relates to vendors’ personal hygiene, cross-contamination and hygiene, quality control, and foodborne disease occurrence (Table 2). Particularly, the fish vendors (100%) understood that tasting or distributing any food with unprotected hands is harmful to health, a clean working environment is essential for the prevention of contamination, and to maintain the quality of the fish, it needs to be kept in a refrigerator under 40°F. However, almost half of the respondents 108 (45.0%) understood that foodborne diseases have no impact on their personal health or the economy.

Table 2

Knowledge of respondents on food safety
Statement	Yes	No
Personal hygiene
Washing hands earlier at work reduces the risk of external contamination	236 (98.3)	4 (1.7)
Several types of hazards cause contamination	234 (97.5)	6 (2.5)
Using protective gloves while handling fish decreases the chance of fish contamination	184 (76.7)	56 (23.3)
Personal hygiene can prevent food contamination	224 (93.3)	16 (6.7)
Taste or distributing any food with unprotected hands is harmful to health	240 (100.0)	0 (0.0)
While coughing or sneezing, it is necessary to use protective measures to cover your mouth	228 (95.0)	12 (5.0)
Fish handlers with wounds or symptoms of diseases/infections should not work on the activities	198 (82.5)	42 (17.5)
Ice produced in contaminated water can cause disease	188 (78.3)	52 (21.7)
Cross-contamination and hygiene
A clean working environment is essential for the prevention of contamination	240 (100.0)	0 (0.0)
Cleaning all fish touch surfaces with water and soap before using a sanitizer is important	234 (97.5)	6 (2.5)
Using different platters and instruments to process different types of fish is essential	200 (83.3)	40 (16.7)
Washing the knife used to cut wet fish with water or sanitizer before using it is important	226 (94.2)	14 (5.8)
Washing fish contact surfaces with water and sanitizer every day is important	226 (94.2)	14 (5.8)
Time, temperature, and quality control
To maintain the quality of the fish, it needs to be kept in a refrigerator under 40°F	240 (100.0)	0 (0.0)
It is best to store wet fish in a refrigerator for 2–3 days	218 (90.8)	22 (9.2)
Preserving the fish while it is as fresh as possible	228 (95.0)	12 (5.0)
Freezing destroys the bacteria that could cause food poisoning	212 (88.3)	28 (11.7)
Ice and refrigeration in general, make the possible extension of fish shelf life	192 (80.0)	48 (20.0)
Fish might be refrozen again that have been thawed	188 (78.3)	52 (21.7)
Properly preparing fish for storage will allow it to be stored for a longer period and maintain its quality	232 (96.7)	2 (3.3)
Contaminated fishes always have some variation in color, texture, odor, or taste	222 (92.5)	18 (7.5)
Improper fish storage can threaten consumers' health	228 (95.0)	12 (5.0)
Foodborne disease occurrence
The foodborne disease affects all, including infants, teenagers, pregnant women, and the elderly	232 (96.7)	8 (3.3)
Good hygiene practices can help to avoid and manage foodborne diseases	226 (94.2)	14 (5.8)
Foodborne diseases have no impact on your health and also the economy	108 (45.0)	132 (55.0)
Hepatitis A virus is among the foodborne pathogens	174 (72.5)	66 (27.5)
Vibrio parahaemolyticus is most commonly found in shellfish	158 (65.8)	82 (43.2)

Attitudes of vendors to food safety

Figure 1 presents the attitudes of respondents toward food safety. At least 232 (96.7%) agreed that washing fresh fish with contaminated water is harmful to health, and that safe handling of fish to avoid contamination is part of their work responsibilities. Also, a high percentage of fish vendors (98.3%) agreed that personal hygiene could help avoid foodborne illnesses. However, an appreciable proportion of fish vendors disagreed that wearing masks, gloves, caps, and appropriate footwear is an effective precaution to minimize the chance of contamination.

Factors affecting the food safety knowledge and attitudes of fish vendors

The factors influencing food safety knowledge and attitudes of fish vendors are presented in Table 3. Among the demographic information, only location and family size were significantly associated with knowledge of food safety among fish vendors in Ilorin, Nigeria. However, fish vendors with smaller families were four times more likely to possess satisfactory knowledge of food safety (OR: 4.4, 95% CI: 1.9–9.8, p = 0.000). Age, market location, toilet facility, and family size of fish vendors were demographic factors associated with attitudes. The logistic regression analysis revealed that respondents of higher age groups were at least 11 times more likely to have satisfactory attitudes (OR: 10.5, 95% CI: 1.8–62.8, p = 0.015) toward food safety. Also, participants with smaller family sizes were four times more likely to display satisfactory attitudes (OR: 4.1, 95% CI: 1.8–9.2, p = 0.001) toward fish safety.

Table 3

Factors influencing the food safety knowledge and attitudes of fish vendors
	Knowledge						Attitudes
Variable	Poor	Satisfactory	P value (χ²)	OR	95% CI	P value	Poor	Satisfactory	P value (χ²)	OR	95% CI	P value
Gender
Male	42 (37.5)	70 (62.5)	1.000	-	-	-	38 (33.9)	74 (66.1)	0.575	-	-	-
Female	48 (37.5)	80 (62.5)		-	-	-	50 (39.1)	78 (60.9)		-	-	-
Age (year)
< 21	12 (66.7)	6 (33.3)	0.084	-	-	-	14 (77.8)	4 (22.2)	0.011*	1	-	-
21–40	60 (38.5)	96 (61.5)		-	-	-	60 (38.5)	96 (61.5)		5.6	1.1, 28.8	0.057
41–60	18 (32.1)	38 (67.9)		-	-	-	14 (25.0)	42 (75.0)		10.5	1.8, 62.8	0.015*
> 60	0 (0.0)	10 (100.0)		-	-	-	0 (0.0)	10 (100.0)		43.8	1.2, 1575.0	0.037*
Education
Non-formal	8 (20.0)	32 (80.0)	0.145	-	-	-	16 (40.0)	24 (60.0)	0.901	-	-	-
Up to Primary	6 (25.0)	18 (75.0)		-	-	-	8 (33.3)	16 (66.7)		-	-	-
Up to Secondary	48 (47.1)	54 (52.9)		-	-	-	40 (39.2)	62 (60.8)		-	-	-
Up to tertiary	28 (37.8)	46 (62.2)		-	-	-	24 (32.4)	50 (67.6)		-	-	-
Location
Unity	8 (66.7)	4 (33.3)	0.024*	1.0	-	-	6 (50.0)	6 (50.0)	0.000*	1	-	-
Oja Oba	12 (37.5)	20 (62.5)		6.0	0.7, 51.1	0.233	26 (81.3)	6 (18.6)		0.2	0.0, 1.8	0.3511
Baboko	10 (19.2)	42 (80.8)		8.4	1.2, 59.5	0.077	4 (7.7)	48 (92.3)		12.0	1.4, 103.5	0.068
Kuntu	50 (50.0)	50 (50.0)		2.0	0.3, 11.9	0.740	44 (44.0)	56 (56.0)		1.3	0.2, 6.9	> 0.999
Oloje	10 (22.7)	34 (77.3)		6.8	0.9, 48.7	0.128	8 (18.2)	36 (81.8)		4.5	0.7, 31.1	0.289
Work status
Part-time	42 (47.7)	46 (52.3)	0.117	-	-	-	40 (45.5)	48 (54.5)	0.169	-	-	-
Full-time	48 (35.5)	104 (64.5)		-	-	-	48 (31.6)	104 (68.4)		-	-	-
Experience (Years)
0–2	2 (20.0)	10 (80.0)	0.357	-	-	-	0 (0.0)	12 (100.0)	0.270	-	-	-
3–10	54 (43.5)	72 (56.5)		-	-	-	48 (38.1)	78 (61.9)		-	-	-
11–20	24 (38.7)	38 (61.3)		-	-	-	26 (41.9)	36 (58.1)		-	-	-
> 20	10 (25.0)	30 (75.0)		-	-	-	14 (35.0)	26 (65.0)		-	-	-
Electricity
None	2 (20.0)	10 (80.0)	0.330	-	-	-	6 (50.0)	6 (50.0)	0.117	-	-	-
Solar	8 (26.7)	22 (73.3)		-	-	-	4 (13.3)	26 (86.7)		-	-	-
Government supply	80 (40.4)	118 (59.6)		-	-	-	78 (39.4)	120 (60.6)		-	-	-
Toilet facility
Open space	4 (25.0)	12 (75.0)	0.068	-	-	-	6 (37.5)	10 (62.5)	0.020*	1	-	-
Non-sanitary	6 (30.0)	14 (70.0)		-	-	-	4 (20.0)	16 (80.0)		2.4	0.3, 19.2	0.765
Sanitary without water-seal	6 (15.0)	34 (85.0)		-	-	-	4 (10.0)	36 (90.0)		5.4	0.7, 41.7	0.246
Sanitary with water-seal	74 (45.1)	90 (54.9)		-	-	-	74 (45.1)	90 (54.9)		0.7	0.2, 3.3	0.977
Family size
> 3	66 (53.2)	58 (46.8)	0.000*	1	-	-	64 (51.6)	60 (48.4)	0.001*	1	-	-
1–3	24 (20.7)	92 (79.3)		4.4	1.9, 9.8	0.000*	24 (20.7)	92 (79.3)		4.1	1.8, 9.2	0.001*

We found that over 62.5% of respondents demonstrated good food safety knowledge, particularly in areas such as personal hygiene and cross-contamination. However, misconceptions about foodborne diseases persist. While attitudes toward food safety were generally positive, certain practices such as wearing protective gear were less endorsed. Demographic factors significantly influenced both knowledge and attitude with respondents of higher age groups being more likely to have satisfactory attitudes toward food safety as well as participants with smaller family sizes being four times more likely to display satisfactory attitudes toward fish safety. Food safety refers to a set of practices and guidelines that must be followed for food to be safe for human consumption. It includes all aspects from production to consumption, which leads to the improvement of food quality. Food safety starts with the assurance of the hygienic status of the food and its quality as well as how food vendors market the product. These outcomes are determined by vendors' knowledge of and attitudes toward food safety concepts. This study offers information on food safety knowledge and attitudes among fish vendors in informal markets in the Ilorin metropolis.

The results of the demographic survey showed that fish sellers in the study area were young, with the majority having a mid-level of education. Also, there were more females than males. In a survey of fish vendors in northern Nigeria, reported 67.5% and 51.4% youth and female respondents, respectively have been reported [20]. The majority of the fish vendors had over three years of experience and worked full-time. In this study, the majority of the fish vendors had good knowledge of food safety as it relates to personal hygiene, cross-contamination and hygiene, quality control, and foodborne diseases. Knowledge of food safety is essential for preventing the spread of foodborne illnesses [28]. Education is expected to provide insight and knowledge to humans, including knowledge of food safety [29].

Most of the fish vendors knew about washing hands and using gloves while handling fish, reducing the risk of external contamination. Contrarily, in the Cox's Bazar region of Bangladesh, a lower percentage (16.3%) of fish handlers agreed on the importance of hand washing, which also reflects the personal hygiene level of the group [23]. Also, all the fish vendors understood that tasting or distributing any food with unprotected hands is harmful to health, a clean working environment is essential for the prevention of contamination, and to maintain the quality of the fish, it needs to be kept in a refrigerator under 40°F. This could be attributed to their level of education, the years of experience, and the public awareness programme organized by the government for local markets on food safety practices during the COVID-19 pandemic could also be a contributing factor to it. However, most of the fish vendors said that foodborne diseases have no impact on personal health and the economy which suggests that most of the participants had better knowledge about food safety than foodborne diseases. Our findings corroborate other researchers that reported the respondent's knowledge of foodborne diseases as limited [30, 31]. The findings reveal that there is a need to enhance food safety education among fish vendors, especially in the aspect of foodborne disease occurrence.

The finding of this study is in contrast to other studies on fish handlers [32] that attributed inadequate knowledge of food safety to the lack of training. Knowledge of food safety is linked to a positive attitude and practice through the training of food handlers [23, 32, 33]. Also, training food handlers is inadequate in achieving adherence to food safety [34]. The day-to-day context greatly impacts food safety knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) [35].

Food safety attitudes together with food safety knowledge are important factors that can influence the handling practices of fish vendors and also minimize the prevalence of foodborne diseases. Attitude is an important l factor that may affect food safety because it is the main link between the knowledge and practice of food vendors [30, 31, 36]. A positive attitude is essential for food vendors to transmit knowledge into good practices [30, 31, 36]. However, some earlier studies [37–39] have also found similar results that practices and attitudes are related and different from knowledge, hence a worker with a good attitude would have better practice, but good knowledge is not necessarily translated to satisfactory practice. Poor level of attitude and practice could be attributed to the negligence and awareness of standard safety practices.

In this study, a high number of respondents incorporate some food safety knowledge into the food safety altitudes such as agreeing that washing fresh fish with contaminated water is harmful to health, that safe handling of fish to avoid contamination is part of their work responsibilities and that personal hygiene can help to avoid foodborne illnesses. However, most of the fish vendors disagreed that wearing masks, gloves, caps, and appropriate footwear is an effective precaution to minimize the chance of contamination. It is observed that while handlers tend to know much about food safety, attitudes are also as important as knowledge [40].

The findings of this study affirm the KAP model that knowledge encourages a positive attitude, and that attitude, afterward shapes the practice of food safety [32, 41, 42]. Previous studies on the KAP of food handlers have also shown a strong positive correlation among the KAP variables [30, 31, 43]. The knowledge about food safety by the fish vendors is significantly influenced by the demographic information of the family size and location. This implies that the place where the fish vendors are selling and the size of the family are associated with their knowledge of food safety. This study however showed that fish vendors with lower family sizes were more likely to have possessed satisfactory knowledge of food safety.

This study revealed that the age of respondents, location of the markets, toilet facility, and family size of the fish vendors have a direct impact on their altitudes. It has shown that satisfactory attitudes towards food safety increase with the age of the respondents. Also, families with lower sizes showed a satisfactory attitude toward food safety compared to the large family. Fish safety must be grounded in the KAP of fish retailers and their working environment [44]. Infrastructural deficits in the provision of portable water and toilet facilities were attributed to the non-conformity of the KAP model among fish vendors in Nigeria [20]. The capacity of the fish vendors to guarantee food safety is not only influenced by KAP but also by access to basic amenities to facilitate fish hygienic practices.

One limitation of this study is its reliance on self-reported data, which may be subject to recall bias and social desirability bias. Additionally, the study's cross-sectional design only captures a snapshot of the vendors' knowledge and attitudes at a single point in time, limiting the ability to draw causal inferences or assess changes over time. Furthermore, the study focused solely on fish vendors in Ilorin, Nigeria, which may limit the generalizability of the findings to other contexts or food sectors. However, we ensure that the survey tool was pre-tested and validated by food safety experts before use to eliminate some of the response bias.

The study showed that a large number of the fish sellers were young, fairly educated, and female. The major food safety knowledge among the respondents was that of personal hygiene, cross-contamination, and foodborne diseases. Age, family size, and location of the respondents were found to significantly influence the knowledge and altitudes of the respondents in the study area. Food safety training by the relevant authority that comprises theoretical and practical aspects is essential for fish vendors. The training programs are useful to the fish vendors on food safety and hygienic practices. The government at all levels should implement appropriate food safety rules and regulations to improve fish vendors' knowledge and attitudes. The government through the extension agencies can provide training programs and awareness campaigns for the fish vendors. This would help to maintain fish quality and protect the public from foodborne diseases through fish consumption.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interest.

Authors’ contributions

Conceptualization: I. G-M and I.A.O.; methodology and editing: all authors; data analysis, interpretation, and representation: I.A.O. and N.B.A.; preparation of the initial draft of the manuscript: I.G-M., T.O.I., I.A.A., R.A.K., H.M.A. and N.B.A.; Resources: I.G-M., T.O.I., I.A..A., R.A.K., and H.M.A.; Supervision: I.A.O. All the authors have read and agreed to the final manuscript.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank all the fish vendors and the fish vendor associations for their assistance and support during the survey.

Data availability statement

The datasets used in this investigation are accessible from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Ethical approval: The questionnaire and methodology for this study was approved by the Ethical Review Committee of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ilorin, Nigeria (s approval number: UERC/FVM/17/32TA036B) in line with the university’s research ethical guideline.

Informed consent: All of the study's participants provided informed consent.

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Food safety knowledge and attitudes among fish vendors in informal markets in Ilorin, Nigeria: A cross-sectional study

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Background

Methods

Study design, area, and population

Questionnaire design, pre-test, and administration

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Data management and statistical analysis

Results

Demographic information of the study participants

Knowledge of food safety among vendors

Attitudes of vendors to food safety

Factors affecting the food safety knowledge and attitudes of fish vendors

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