Knowledge and practices of food hygiene and safety among camel milk handlers in the pastoral camel value chain in Kenya.
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Date
2017Author
Odongo, N. O
Matofari, J. W
Abong, G. O
Lamuka, P. O
Abey, K. A.
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Camel milk contributes up to 30% of pastoral community annual caloric intake making
it one of the main diets for the pastoral community. In addition, camel milk is a major
source of income and serves significant cultural functions in pastoral communities.
Despite these, camel milk production and marketing is faced with a number of
challenges, especially poor handling practices that contribute to high post-harvest losses
due to poor quality and safety. Poor handling practices have been reported to be
associated with poor knowledge and practices of food hygiene and safety among the
pastoral camel milk value chain actors. The study aimed at determining the level of food
hygiene and safety knowledge and practices of camel milk value chain actors. A
structured questionnaire, focus group discussions and key informant interviews were
used to collect data on hygienic milk handling knowledge and practices along the camel
milk value chain. Each point along the chain showed a significant difference (p<0.05) in
knowledge in food safety and hygiene. The study established that herdsmen had
significantly (p<0.05) lower knowledge than women retailing and collecting/ bulking
milk at Isiolo town and its environs with a mean score of 49 ± 9%. The women retailing
at Isiolo town scored 62 ± 9% of the food hygiene and safety questions correctly. The
women at the collection/bulking centre had the highest knowledge level with a score of
69 ± 10%. The average score along Isiolo camel milk value chain was 60 ± 9%. The
respondents showed low knowledge in answering questions regarding spoilage
microorganisms and effective cleaning of containers. About 53% of women retailers used
rejected/spoiled milk for household consumption. This could result in a high food safety
risk. Therefore, training of actors along the camel milk value chain could be the best way
to improving their knowledge on food safety and hygiene.
URI
https://www.cabdirect.org/cabdirect/abstract/20173208627?q=(((%22university+of+nairobi+2017%22+OR+(university+of+nairobi+2017))))http://hdl.handle.net/11295/103430
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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