Multicenter Study of Street Foods in 13 Towns on Four Continents by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Study Group of the International Network of Pasteur and Associated Institutes

An international multicenter study of ready-to-eat foods, sandwiches, and ice creams or sorbets sold in the streets and their vendors was carried out to assess the microbiological quality of these foods and to identify characteristics of the vendors possibly associated with pathogens. Thirteen towns in Africa, America, Asia, and Oceania were invo1ved in the study. A single protocol was used in all 13 centers: representative sampling was by random selection of vendors and a sample of foods bought from each of these vendors at a time and date selected at random. Microbiological analyses were carried out using standardized Association Francaise, de Normalisation methods, and the use of a standardized questionnaire to collect data concerning the characteristics of the vendors, Fifteen surveys were carried out, with 3,003 food samples from 1,268 vendors. The proportion of unsatisfactory food samples was between 12.7 and 82.9% for ice creams and sorbets and between 11.3 and 92% for sandwiches, For ice creams and sorbets, the sale of a large number of units (>80 per day) increased the risk of unsatisfactory food by a factor of 2.8 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.5 to 5.1), lack of training in food hygiene by 6.6 (95% CI: 1.1 to 50), and by a factor of 2.8 (95% CI: 1.4 to 5.4) for mobile vendors. These risk factors were not identified for sandwiches, this difference may be due to the presence of a cooking step in their preparation. These results show that the poor microbiological quality of these street foods constitutes a potential hazard to public health, that the extent of this hazard varies between the cities studied, and that vendors health education in food safety is a crucial factor in the prevention of foodborne infections. Une etude muylticentrique internationale des aliments prets a consommer (sandwiches, glaces, sorbets vendus dans les lieux publics ou les rues) a ete menee pour etablir la qualite bacteriologique de ce type de produit. 13 villes en Afrique,Amerique,A sie et Oceanie ont ete impliquees. 1 protocole est utilise: selection au hasard du vendeur et du produit et du moment. Les analyses microbiologiques sont effectuees. Les resultats montrent une qualite bacteriologique faible de ces produits pouvant mettre le consommateur en danger. L'education a la sante et aux risques du vendeur-preparateur est crucial dans la prevention des risques alimentaires pour ces produits.