A comprehensive study on attiéké vending and consumption in three main cities of Burkina Faso

Street vended foods are developed in West African countries offering a variety of meals to populations. Attiéké is a local popular street vended food widely consumed in Burkina Faso. Street food vending is operated by actors without knowledge of good hygienic practices leading to foodborne infections. Therefore, this study was carried out to investigate on behaviors of vendors and consumers of attiéké in three main cities of Burkina Faso. Surveys were performed on vending sites with face-to-face interviews of 300 vendors and 500 consumers. The results revealed the major presence of women (88.67%) in attiéké vending in public areas. Most vendors (68%) do not respect good hygienic practices during food handling. In addition, consumers, mostly consisted of men (57.40%) are not aware of vending conditions and even less of their own hygienic behavior. Regarding the socio-economic importance of attiéké and its role in foodborne illnesses, vendors should be regularly trained and retrained to prevent foodborne disease outbreaks. Similarly, this sector needs to be better organized, by using a holistic approach that involves all the actors.