Paper presented at the 52nd CFCS Annual Meeting, Guadeloupe, July 10-16, 2016 FOOD - ELABORATION OF FOOD
PERCEPTIONS ON HEALTHY EATING, NUTRITION AND OBESITY AMONG SELECT GROUPS OF THE POPULATION IN TRINIDAD Dimple Singh-Ackbarali, Rohanie Maharaj* and Nadia Ramphal Biosciences, Agriculture and Food Technologies (BAFT) Unit, Eastern Caribbean Institute of Agriculture and Forestry (ECIAF) Campus, University of Trinidad and Tobago, Piarco, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies *Corresponding author – email: rohanie.maharaj@utt.edu.tt Keywords: Street foods, consumer perception, consumption pattern, food safety, food borne illnesses (FBIs), public health inspectors (PHIs) Abstract The study investigated self-reported perceptions and awareness of females on food safety and health risks associated with certain types of street foods. Satisfaction of females with the monitoring of street food vendors by the local authorities, the food safety practices executed by vendors and factors that influenced female consumers to purchase street foods in Trinidad were reviewed. Data was collected via questionnaires and results tabulated and analysed. Reasons for purchasing street foods were different for women in different age brackets and with different educational backgrounds. Satisfaction with monitoring of street food vendors, by the relevant authorities, was only significantly different when comparing persons of different age groups. No significant differences noted between different consumer demographic groups and their perceptions of street food safety practices of vendors and their awareness of food safety and health issues associated with street foods. Vending practices of street food vendors were rated as poor to fairly safe by the different demographic groups. Consumers reported that they believed that street foods can be unsafe, some street foods are unhealthier than others, they are aware of food poisoning symptoms and some take the precaution of only buying street foods from familiar vendors. Introduction Internationally, street foods have gained much attention with regards to the potential health risks associated with their consumption. Contaminated food is one of the greatest hazards of today’s world (WHO, 2000). Ready to eat street foods are classed as high risk foods. These foods do not require further cooking before consumption therefore if not handled properly or kept under appropriate conditions the growth of pathogens can be sustained under normal conditions which will incur health risks (Hertzman and Barrash, 2007; Mensah et al., 2002). Materials and methods A survey instrument was designed to be completed within 10 minutes and was reviewed for content and validated by three academic professionals to ensure relevant and adequate coverage of the concepts within the instrument. Survey instruments were distributed to persons in public areas from the northern, central and southern districts in Trinidad. Individuals were briefed on the survey instrument and subjects were asked to complete and sign a consent form. The instrument comprised of several closed ended questions which included questions on demographics, consumption and perceived health risk of selected street foods under investigation. With specific regard to health risk, the participants were asked to categorize the street foods on the scale 0-5 (0-no health risk; 5-greatest high risk). The scale was then subsequently re-categorized with a score of 0-1, 2-3 and 4-5 representing low, medium and high risk foods. Participants were also asked to indicate the extent of their satisfaction with the relevant authorities responsible for the monitoring street food vendors in Trinidad. Respondents could give an opinion on this as results of public health inspections are shared via media and the general population can make a request for a vendor or food service business to be investigated and monitored. Incomplete surveys (<90% was completed) were rejected, which left 156 surveys that could be analysed. Main results 1. Demographics: One hundred and fifty seven (n=156) respondents, out of a total of two hundred (200), completed over 90% of the survey instrument. The majority of individuals in this study, were less than 50 years of age (36.9%) and attained tertiary level education (61.9%). 2. Experiences with Food Borne Illnesses (FBIs): The results show that there is more variation in persons with different education backgrounds with respect to knowing someone who was affected by FBIs. 3. Consumption patterns: Weekly cumulative consumption patterns reveal that doubles was consumed the most frequently (73.4%) on a weekly basis followed by pies (56.1%) and burgers (49.4%). Pholourie/Saheena, hotdogs corn soup and gyros took similar precedence for weekly consumption, 37.9%, 36.4%, 35.5% and 30.3% consecutively. Consumers less frequently purchased souse (22.8%) during the week. Black pudding and pows were amongst the least consumed street food on a weekly basis (10.1%) and (9.2%) in that order
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