Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Filipinos are food lovers. They love eating whenever

they may go no matter what time of the day it is and who the

people they are eating with. As long as it fulfils their

tummies and their happiness. One of the most famous food in

the Philippines are the so called street foods. These are

prepared or cooked food by vendors on the street or other

open area for immediate consumption. Typically, street food

are delicious, ready-to-eat food or drink sold in the street,

in a market, park or other public places. It is sold by a

seller from a portable stall, cart or a food truck. In each

region in the Philippines you can simply observe that a lot

of street foods can be found where most Filipinos buy and

enjoy eating with their family or friends. But sometimes,

street foods can cause harm to our health depending on how

the sellers set or prepare their products.

To promote adequate nutrition, food safety in the

Philippines has gotten increasing attention due to a number

of factors. First, a respectable proportion of the food

establishments are of the small and medium scale, where strict

implementation of food safety regulation is needed. Second,

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poverty remains a central point to reckon with, and therefore

results to low literacy on food safety particularly those in

the rural areas. Third, consumers enjoy wider choices and

lower costs under a more changed - exchange administration

however are generally not well educated or knowledgeable on

the production, storage and handling of processes of the

accessible commodities. Fourth, the changing way of life of

many Filipinos has forced them to depend on cooked foods which

are questionable in terms of their cleanliness. Nowadays,

food handlers are certainly observable in their food

mismanagement, in line with this, laws were implemented with

the goal that entrepreneurs or vendors would guarantee that

people in their general concerns on food security and safety

are recognized and responded to.

Today, the policy framework and implementing guidelines

for food safety and cleanliness in the country are now in

place. Sanitation has been gaining increased attention

recently due to the rising number of food – borne illnesses

and malnutrition around the world. According to the

statistics there are estimated 7 million children

experiencing hunger and malnutrition1(Ciriaco, 2017). Despite

1
C., Mocon-Ciriaco(2017). 7 million kids suffer from hunger, malnutrition. Business Mirror.
Retrieved on December 4, 2017. https://businessmirror.com.ph/7m-filipino-kids-suffer-hunger-
malnutrition/. Web.
 3

the fact that there are food regulatory laws, proper

management of nutrition and sanitation stays to be an issue

in numerous countries including Philippines. The reasons for

food - borne disease are multifaceted. Some major risk factors

of food - borne disease are related to employee behaviours

and preparation practices in food service establishments

(WHO, 2000)2(Nutrition and sanitation, 2015). This means that

not all vendors may be aware of the cleanliness in preparing

and cooking the foods in the street.

Street foods have turned out to be mainstream as source

of convenient and affordable food, as well as primary source

of livelihood. In any case, street food vendors overlook the

importance of the safety and nutrition quality of the food

they serve which can cause food related diseases, even

poisoning and death to costumers, especially school children.

Street food was stipulated by the development of the urban

population. The interest for economical, ready to eat food

has increased. A large portion of the earnings generated in

street vending are generally local and thereby promoting

economic sufficiency. However the contribution of street food

vendors to the economy has been tremendously underestimated

2
Nutrition And Sanitation: The Philippine National Standard For Foodproducts And Its Implication To The Practicesof
Street Vendors In Handling Food Products. 2015.
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and disregarded. The Philippines has no precise record to

measure annual sales on street food since it is considered an

informal sector. Customers from different monetary strata

benefit from nutritious, low cost meals3(Ciriaco, 2017).

With all these factors in mind, the researchers conduct

this study to assess the perceived quality and safety of

street foods in University of Eastern Philippines because of

the numerous students which may serve as potential customers

to the street vendors that reside in the aforementioned place

to help the street vendors in evaluating their level of

adherence on the protocol on food and sanitation, and from it

relay the appropriate correction or modification to improve

the quality and safety of street foods.

Objective of the Study

This study aims to determine the sanitation practices of

street food vendors as perceived by grade 12 Accountancy,

Business and Management students in the University Of Eastern

Philippines.

Specifically it aims to:

1. find the socio-economic profile of the students in terms

of:

3
Ibid. p2
 5

1.1 Sex

1.2 Age

1.3 Weekly Allowance

2. find the socio-economic profile of the street food

vendors in terms of:

2.1 Sex

2.2 Age

2.3 Number of years in the business

2.4 Monthly Income

3. determine the different street foods sold inside the

University of Eastern Philippines.

4. determine the different street foods bought by the

students inside the University of Eastern Philippines.

5. identify different sanitation practices of the street

food vendors

6. determine the perception of the grade 12 accountancy,

business and management students with regards to the

sanitation practices of the street food vendors.

7. assess the importance of hygiene to the vendors and

students on street food safety.

8. measure the significant difference between the

sanitation practices of street food vendors and the

perception of the Grade 12 Accountancy, Business and

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Management students of the University of Eastern

Philippines.

Significance of the study

This study will give people an idea on how street food

vendors prepare their products. To provide information that

will help them improve their product and their businesses. In

addition this study will also inform the consumers especially

the students about the nutrition and sanitation of street

vendors because they used to buy and eat street foods without

knowing its health conditions. The findings of this study

could help raise awareness among the vendors and consumers.

This study will contribute significantly to the following:

Street vendors. In the readiness and manipulation of food

product with regards to its quality and safety, the study

will aid the vendors to correct their wrong practices in

preparing and handling food and enable them to strive to do

the right one to guarantee health safety. The vendors will be

given the necessary suggestions and recommendations to

improve their mistakes and shortcomings to make safe and

healthy production.

Students and the public. The study will aid the learners as

well as the people in the community to be cautious of their

choice of food in order to avoid any diseases that may weaken

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their bodies and affect their daily activities. The consumer

will become more rigorous in purchasing the street foods for

they already have adequate information about the quality of

the food vended, its sanitary preparation and handling,

excessive use of additives, exposure to contaminants, and

bacterial, viral or microbial content that could impinge

on their health.

Parents. This study will aid the parents in a way that they

will be guided and aware of the food their children are eating

when they are away from home and so they could monitor their

children‘s health from time to time.

The school. This study will aid the school by providing them

ideas to detect poor hygiene practices of its students so

that it may seek ways to tackle the issue.

University of Eastern Philippines. In determining the street

food sanitation, the University or the town itself will give

them an idea whether street vendors in this area are complying

with the correct policies and protocols in selling street

food products and thus, will prompt them to take necessary

actions to ensure the quality of street foods being vended.

Municipal Health Office. The result of the study will provide

the concerned office the basis for their priority

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interventions that must be emphasize for the security of

people.

Future researchers. The result of the study can be used as a

reference or basis for conducting future researches that are

related to the present study. And can continue to widen this

topic or use this study to gather references and knowledge on

food safety.

Scope and Limitation

This study is an analysis to determine the Sanitation

Practices of Street Food Vendors as Perceived by the Grade 12

Accountancy, Business and Management Students in the

University of Eastern Philippines, which was conducted on the

second semester of school year 2017-2018.

This study was primarily focused on the assessment of

the sanitation practices in terms of safety and quality of

the street foods.

It was only limited to selected grade 12 ABM senior high

school students and street vendors in University of Eastern

Philippines. It is for the reason that not all students and

vendors will give a reliable answer. It was conducted in

University of Eastern Philippines because the researchers

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does not have enough time to conduct it outside the

aforementioned university. In addition, the short time

duration is also a limitation that the researchers are

considering. With the short span of time it is too much

difficult to analyse the topic. Another is lack of trained

interviewer to clarify and probe which possibly lead to less

reliable data. Most of all, the different attitudes of the

interviewee wherein the researchers must deal with.

The variables are limited only to the sex of the

respondents; age of the students 15 to 20 years old and the

vendors 15 to 39 above years of age; limited only to the

importance of hygiene; and its limited to the perception of

the grade 12 ABM students.

Theoretical Framework

The core theory of this study is “Nightingale’s

environmental theory of sanitation” by Florence Nightingale.

This theory stresses that good sanitation has a great impact

on a person’s health. One of the fine essential elements

according to Nightingale is good sanitation. This theory also

emphasizes that the main cause of any diseases is the poor

environmental condition and to be able to improve

environment, the people must learn to practice good

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sanitation in every part of the globe.4 In lined with this

study, the street vendors in University of Eastern

Philippines must make sure that the foods they serve to the

customers are clean. They must also make sure that before

they handle food products they’ve gone through different

sanitation practices. This theory was used to identify the

different sanitation practices of street vendors and asses

them.

Another theory that supports value the importance of

hygiene in the safety of street food is “Health Belief Model

(HBM)” was first developed in the 1950’s by social

psychologists Hochbaum, Rosenstock and Kegels working in the

U.S. Public Health Services. The HBM is a psychological model

that attempts to explain and predict health behaviours. This

is used in the study in evaluating the health status of the

Grade 12 ABM students of University of Eastern Philippines..

Another theory that supports the study is the behavioural

health theory which is a combination of knowledge, opinion,

and actions taken by an individual or group in reference to

their health.5 This theory has a relation of the study in the

4
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S1414-81452015000300518&script=sci_arttext&tlng=en
5
https://www.utwente.nl/en/bms/communication-theories/sorted-by
cluster/Health%20Communication/Health_Belief_Model/
 11

knowledge of the students in terms of sanitation practices by

the street vendors towards their health.

Another supporting theory is “Theory of Mind”. The

Theory of Mind is the ability to recognize and attribute

mental states — thoughts, perceptions, desires, intentions,

feelings –to oneself and to others and to understand how these

mental states might affect behaviour. It is also an

understanding that others have beliefs, thought processes and

emotions completely separate from our own. Theory of mind is

called a “theory” in that the mind is not directly observable.

We never know for sure what is going on in the minds of other

people — we can only make assumptions based on experiences

with our own beliefs, emotions and perceptions6. This theory

has a relation of the study to the different perceptions of

the ABM students towards the sanitation practices of street

vendors.

6
https://psychcentral.com/encyclopedia/theory-of-mind/
 12

Conceptual Framework

The study was entitled the Sanitation practices of

street food vendors as perceived by Grade-12 Accountancy,

Business and Management Students in the University of Eastern

Philippines. The study aimed to assess the street vendors and

the Grade-12 ABM student’s awareness on the sanitation of

street foods.

It aimed to identify the difference between the

different sanitation practices of the street food vendors and

the perception of the grade 12 ABM student of UEP.

The researchers assumed that street food vendors have

different sanitation practices such as the clean utensils and

hygienically served food. It is further assumed that the

street food is well cooked. They also serve safe and portable

water. It is also assumed that street food vendors habitually

practice hand washing before serving the food, observe

personal hygiene and keep the raw food and cooked food

separately. They also keep the food covered and make

arrangement for waste disposal. Generally the researchers

assume they know the importance of Hygiene.

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Paradigm

Independent Variable Dependent variable

1. Socio – economic profile
of the students:
 Sex
 Age
 Weekly Allowance
2. Socio – economic profile
of the vendors: Perception of the
 Sex Gr. 12
 Age
Accountancy,
 Number of years in
the business Business and
 Monthly Income Management
3. Different Street Foods
Sold
students of
4. Different Street Foods University of
Bought
Eastern
Philippines
5. Different Sanitation
Practices for Street
Food Vendors

6. Importance of Hygiene

Table 1. Paradigm
Figure 1.1 Shows the relationship between the two variables
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Null Hypotheses

There is no significant difference between the

Sanitation practices of street food vendors and

the perception of Grade-12 Accountancy,

Business and Management Students in the

University of Eastern Philippines.

Definition of Terms

To facilitate better understanding of this study, the

following terms were defined conceptually and operationally.

However, some operational definitions are also the conceptual

definitions because they are used in the same content.

Hygiene - Conceptually, it is the science of preventive

medicine and the preservation of health. Also commonly used

as a euphemism for cleanliness and proper sanitation

(MedicineNet.com, 2017).7 Operationally, the set of practices

performed by street food vendors to preserve health the health

of grade 12 – Accountancy, Business and Management students

of University of Eastern Philippines.

7
MedicineNet.com (2017). Definition of hygiene. Retrieved on December 28, 2017 from
https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=7324. web
 15

Perception – Conceptually, it is the process of recognizing

and interpreting sensory stimuli.8 Operationally, it is the

understanding of respondents about the sanitation and hygiene

performed by street food vendors.

Sanitation - Conceptually, refers to the maintenance of

hygienic conditions, through services such as garbage

collection and wastewater disposal (WHO, 2017).9

Operationally, a set of plans and practices designed to

protect the public health from diseases, infection prevention

and control used by street food vendors of University of

Eastern Philippines.

Sanitation Practices - Conceptually, it means measures

necessary for improving and protecting health and well-being

of the people. Sanitation is any system that promotes proper

disposal of human and animal wastes, proper use of toilet and

avoiding open space defecation (UNICEF, 2013).10

Operationally, the practices provided by the vendors to keep

their products and surroundings clean and safe.

8
Study.com (2017). What is perception in Psychology? Definition and Theory. Retrieved on
January 15, 2018 from https://study.com/academy/practice/quiz-worksheet-the-theory-of-perception-in-
psychology.html. web
9
WHO (2017). Health topics; Sanitation. Retrieved on December 28, 2017 from
http://www.who.int/topics/sanitation/en/.web
10
UNICEF (2013). Hand washing is the most effective way to prevent the spread of diseases.
Retrieved on December 28, 2017 from https://esa.un.org/iys/review09/countries/nigeria/pdfs/Nigeria-
IYSFAQsSanitation.pdf
 16

Street Foods - Conceptually, it is tasty, ready-to-eat food

or drink sold on the street, in a market, fair, park or other

public place. It is sold by a hawker or vendor from a portable

stall, cart or food truck (Street food institute, 2017).11

Operationally, inexpensive foods sold on the street that are

commonly bought by students in the campus.

Vendor - Conceptually, it is typically used to describe the

entity that is paid for goods that are provided, rather than

the manufacturer of the goods itself. It is possible, however,

for a vendor to sometimes operate as either a supplier (or

seller) of goods and a manufacturer (Investopedia, 2015).12

Operationally, these are the people who offers street foods

in University of Eastern Philippines and most especially the

one who must maintain proper sanitation and hygiene in their

operations and services.

11
Street Food Institute (2017). What is street food?. Retrieved on December 28, 2017 from
http://www.streetfoodinstitute.org/what-is-street-food/. web
12
Investopedia (2015). Vendor. Retrieved on December 28, 2017 from
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/v/vendor.asp. web