Food Safety Knowledge, Attitudes and Hygiene Practices among Traditional Caterers in Urban Markets: A Critical Narrative Review with Implications for Market Circle, Takoradi, Ghana
Ivy Nyantakyiwa Tsibuah *
Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Traditional and small-scale food catering is integral to urban food access and livelihoods in Ghana, yet its public-health contribution depends on whether food is prepared and sold under conditions that control microbial and other hazards. This critical narrative review evaluates evidence on food-safety knowledge, attitudes and hygiene practices among street-food vendors and related traditional caterers, with particular attention to Ghanaian urban markets and implications for Market Circle in Takoradi. Literature published from 1 January 2000 to 30 June 2026 was selected through live searches of international and African scholarly sources, citation searching and authoritative institutional material. The synthesis prioritised peer-reviewed Ghanaian evidence and used comparative international studies to interpret mechanisms, measurement problems and intervention effects. Across Ghana, reported knowledge, attitudes and practices vary substantially between studies. This variation reflects genuine contextual differences but also non-standardised instruments, different scoring thresholds, reliance on self-report and marked differences in vendor type and infrastructure. The most consistent finding is not simply inadequate knowledge, but a knowledge-practice gap shaped by access to potable water, handwashing facilities, waste and drainage conditions, time-temperature control, cross-contamination risks, licensing and inspection, training quality, finance and work organisation. Evidence from Takoradi Submetropolis indicates important deficits in knowledge, attitudes and reported practices, while local administrative inspections identify environmental and certification problems that plausibly constrain safe behaviour. Training improves food-safety knowledge more consistently than it improves sustained observed practice; therefore, education alone is unlikely to produce durable risk reduction. For Market Circle, the evidence supports a layered approach combining competency-based training, enabling infrastructure, supportive risk-based inspection and permitting, vendor participation, practical control of temperature and cross-contamination, and routine monitoring. Direct Market Circle-specific epidemiological and microbiological evidence remains limited. A contemporary, mixed-method baseline linking standardised knowledge measures with direct observation, infrastructure audits and food or water microbiology is therefore a high research priority.
Keywords: Food safety, street food, traditional catering, food handlers, hygiene practices, urban markets, Ghana, Takoradi