Vous êtes sur la page 1sur 13

Nutrition & Food Science

Hawker food industry: food safety/public health strategies in Malaysia


Fiona Pang, Poh See Toh,
Article information:
Downloaded by Symbiosis International University Pune, Professor Suresh Patil At 06:59 13 May 2019 (PT)

To cite this document:


Fiona Pang, Poh See Toh, (2008) "Hawker food industry: food safety/public health strategies in Malaysia",
Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 38 Issue: 1, pp.41-51, https://doi.org/10.1108/00346650810848007
Permanent link to this document:
https://doi.org/10.1108/00346650810848007
Downloaded on: 13 May 2019, At: 06:59 (PT)
References: this document contains references to 26 other documents.
To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com
The fulltext of this document has been downloaded 4770 times since 2008*
Users who downloaded this article also downloaded:
(2015),"Consumer perceptions of food quality in Malaysia", British Food Journal, Vol. 117 Iss 3 pp.
1168-1187 <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-08-2013-0235">https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-08-2013-0235</
a>
(2016),"Effect of food safety training on food handlers’ knowledge and practices: A randomized
controlled trial", British Food Journal, Vol. 118 Iss 4 pp. 795-808 <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/
BFJ-08-2015-0294">https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-08-2015-0294</a>

Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by emerald-srm:572754 []
For Authors
If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for
Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines
are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information.
About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com
Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company
manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as
providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.
Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee
on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive
preservation.

*Related content and download information correct at time of download.


The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0034-6659.htm

Hawker food industry: food Hawker food


industry
safety/public health strategies in
Malaysia
Fiona Pang 41
University of Leeds, Leeds, UK, and
Downloaded by Symbiosis International University Pune, Professor Suresh Patil At 06:59 13 May 2019 (PT)

Poh See Toh


University Technology Mara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the socio-demographic factors affecting food
safety knowledge/practice and the effectiveness of food safety strategies of hawkers in an urban and
less urban setting of Malaysia.
Design/methodology/approach – A total of 50 hawkers from Kuala Lumpur and Taiping were
given a questionnaire and observed in their food safety practice (FSP). In-depth interviews were
performed on four hawkers from Kuala Lumpur and Taiping.
Practical implications – Of all hawker types, Muslim/Malay hawkers, hawkers with higher
educational levels, hawkers in designated sites and hawkers in an urban setting scored the highest on
food safety knowledge and/or practice. This study found inadequate distribution/impracticality of
regulations/guidelines for hawkers, ambiguities with licensing procedures, weaknesses in training
programmes and significant complaints of designated sites by hawkers.
Originality/value – Ethnicity, religion, education and type of premise are socio-demographic factors
that may affect food safety knowledge/practices of hawkers. An urban/less urban setting may also
affect hawkers’ food safety knowledge/practice. Ineffectiveness of food safety strategies of the Control
Authority may exist and may vary across different regions of Malaysia. Thus, food safety strategies
must be regulated/reinforced and adapted to hawkers’ socio-demographic status, to ensure the safety
of hawker foods in Malaysia.
Keywords Food industry, Food safety, Public health, Strategic planning, Malaysia
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
Hawker foods are an important cultural heritage, important source of nourishment/
income for the public and significant contributor to the economy in Malaysia (Yasmeen,
2001; Dunnett, 2003). Moreover, the industry is growing substantially in popularity
(Hassan, 2003; WHO, 1996; Winarno and Allain, 1991) and size (by 548.6 per cent during
the period 1970-2000) (Hassan, 2003).
However, there have been concerns over the food safety of hawker foods, with
studies showing poor hygiene and food safety practices (FSPs) of food hawkers in
Malaysia (Toh and Birchenough, 2000; Toh et al., 2000; Zain and Naing, 2002). These
concerns could potentially develop into a health issue for the Malaysian citizens and
tourists, in regards to food-borne diseases. The WHO has mentioned the popularity of
street food stalls as a contributory factor to food-borne illness globally (WHO, 2002),
and poor sanitation/attitudes of hawkers have been associated with reports of food-
borne illness in Malaysia (Meftahuddin, 2002; Lim, 2001, 2002, 1999).
Studies so far have shown that food safety knowledge, attitude and socio-
demographic factors (educational level and ethnicity) of hawkers affect their FSP (Zain, Nutrition & Food Science
Vol. 38 No. 1, 2008
2002; Toh and Birchenough, 2000; Toh et al., 2000). Food safety strategies for hawkers pp. 41-51
(e.g. food safety regulations, licensing, food safety training and relocation to designated # Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0034-6659
sites) have been implemented in Malaysia (Economic Research Service/USDA, 2002; DOI 10.1108/00346650810848007
NFS Medina Pizzali, 2001; FAO, 1999; Ministry of Health, 1983, 1985), however, no studies so
far have assessed their effectiveness and consistency in controlling hawker FSP across
38,1 all regions of Malaysia.
This study aims to expand on the studies so far by further exploring the socio-
demographic factors affecting food safety knowledge/practice of hawkers and the
effectiveness of food safety strategies in an urban and less urban setting of Malaysia.
42 Methods
Downloaded by Symbiosis International University Pune, Professor Suresh Patil At 06:59 13 May 2019 (PT)

Hawker sample
A random sample of 25 hawkers from Kuala Lumpur (urban setting) and 25 hawkers
from Taiping (less rural setting) were collected for the questionnaire/observation of FSP.
The urban sample was collected from two boroughs of Kuala Lumpur (15 hawkers from
Borough 1 and ten hawkers from Borough 2). Two hawkers from Kuala Lumpur and two
from Taiping were selected for individual in-depth interviews. Samples comprised of a
variety of hawker types (in terms of ethnicity and type of premise operated on) to ensure
they were representative of the hawker industry. Each hawker represented a separate
hawker stall. All hawkers participated voluntarily and were informed beforehand of the
purpose implications of the study before positive consent was obtained.

Questionnaire and observation of FSP


Hawkers’ socio-demographic status (age, sex, ethnicity, religion, marital status,
educational level, duration of experience in hawker industry and type of premise), food
safety knowledge and views on government food safety strategies were collected via a
structured questionnaire that was piloted beforehand to check suitability. Food safety
knowledge (FSK) was assessed using ten questions from the ‘‘Food and Drink
Federation’’ and Malaysian food safety guidelines (Food Link, 2002; Ministry of Health,
1997); each correct answer was awarded with one point. Due to the limited time
hawkers could devote to the questionnaire, questions were read out to hawkers and
verbal answers were recorded. Questions were asked in Malay or Chinese according to
the hawker’s preference.
FSP was assessed by observation and using a set of 27 criteria based on Malaysian
and WHO food safety standards/guidelines for hawkers (WHO, 1996; Ministry of
Health, 1997, 1980). One point was awarded for each criteria met by the hawker.

In-depth interviews
Interview questions were based on the survey questions/results, conducted in either
Malay or Chinese language, tape recorded and transcribed into English.

Data analysis and interpretation


Quantitative data from the questionnaire were analysed using SPSS 12 software
package. The Mann-Whitney test, Kruskal-Wallis test, one-way ANOVA, Chi-squared
test and Pearsons correlation were used to assess any statistically significant
association/difference between socio-demographic status, food safety knowledge/
practice and food safety strategies of the Control Authority. Significance was
determined at the level of p  0.05.
The one-way ANOVA was used to assess significant difference between the means of
variables that exhibited a normal distribution. Assessment of significant difference
between variables that did not exhibit a normal distribution was performed using the
nonparametric tests (Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests); the Mann-Whitney test
was used to assess difference between two independent variables and the Kruskal-Wallis Hawker food
test was used to assess difference between more than two independent variables. The
Chi-squared test was used to assess the significant difference between the frequency of
industry
two variables (e.g. the percentage of hawkers who are trained or untrained in Kuala
Lumpur and Taiping). The Pearson’s correlation was used to assess association between
the scores of two variables (e.g. food safety knowledge and practice scores).
Qualitative data from the interviews were explored using thematic analysis
(Aronson, 1994). 43
Downloaded by Symbiosis International University Pune, Professor Suresh Patil At 06:59 13 May 2019 (PT)

Results and discussion


Socio-demographic factors affecting food safety knowledge/practice
The Malay hawkers had significantly better FSK (Kruskal-Wallis test: p ¼ 0.019) and FSP
(Kruskal-Wallis test: p ¼ 0.002) than the Chinese. The Muslim hawkers had significantly
better FSK (one-way ANOVA: p ¼ 0.037) and FSP (Kruskal-Wallis test: p ¼ 0.001) than the
Buddhist hawkers. Hawkers with educational level of diploma and higher had
significantly better FSK (Kruskal-Wallis test: p ¼ 0.0005) and FSP (Kruskal-Wallis test:
p ¼ 0.015) than those with primary school/no formal education. This suggests that race
and educational level affect FSK and FSP of hawkers and concurs with previous study
results (Zain, 2002; Toh and Birchenough, 2000; Toh et al., 2000).
In addition, the results suggest that religion also affects FSK and FSP of hawkers,
which is a unique finding in this study. Data from the interviews suggest that the
emphasis on body cleanliness and hygiene by some Muslim hawkers may have
contributed to the higher food safety performance standard of this religious group
compared to others. An interview with a Muslim hawker revealed that ‘‘hygiene is very
important in Islam’’ where ‘‘hands and body must be clean before prayer’’ and some
hawkers pray ‘‘each time the stall is opened’’ (Interview 2). A sample of 54.5 per cent of
Muslim hawkers said that they ‘‘perform body cleansing before preparing food’’. Since
all the Chinese and Malay hawkers in this study were Buddhist and Muslim,
respectively, religion may have been a reason for better FSK/FSP in Malay hawkers.
Food safety practice differed significantly between the premise types with
designated sites and mobile hawkers having the best and worst FSP, respectively
(Kruskal-Wallis test: p ¼ 0.019); and suggesting that type of premise may also affect
hawker FSP. This may be because designated sites are provided by the local authority
with special facilities to improve food safety (e.g. hand wash basins, potable water
supply) (WHO, 1996), which mobile sites may not have access to; and may be an
example of the environment directly affecting hawker food safety practice. This is
supported by the questionnaire results, which showed that designated sites were the
only premise that had food safety facilities (provided by the local authority) and had
the highest percentage of hawkers (22.7 per cent) mentioning ‘‘lean/organised’’ as an
advantage of the site.

Effectiveness of food safety strategies – food safety regulations/guidelines


In the study 80 per cent of hawkers had not read any food safety regulation/guidelines
(i.e. ‘‘Food Act 1983’’, ‘‘Food Regulations 1985’’ and ‘‘Code of Practice for Food Hygiene’’);
and hawkers’ reasons for this were that they ‘‘did not need to’’ and ‘‘were not supplied
them’’. This suggests that there is no requirement (from the Control Authority) to read
the regulations/guidelines and/or there is some ineffectiveness in the distribution/access
to them. The latter is supported by the interview results that highlighted that ‘‘there are
not many advertisements about them’’ (Interview 1).
NFS All hawkers who had read government food safety guidelines agreed/strongly agreed
38,1 to them being clear/understandable and specific to the hawker industry, and 50 per cent
disagreed to the guidelines being practical for them. This suggests that the latter (i.e.
impracticality of regulations/guidelines) is more likely to discourage hawkers’ adherence
to food safety guidelines/regulations. The interview results also supported this by
highlighting that regulations are ‘‘troublesome . . . when you wear gloves it is hard to cut
44 things’’ (Interview 3) and ‘‘inconvenient . . . . it is too hot to wear hats and gloves’’
(Interview 4). Other reasons for poor adherence to regulations highlighted in the
Downloaded by Symbiosis International University Pune, Professor Suresh Patil At 06:59 13 May 2019 (PT)

interviews were that ‘‘the government is not strict enough’’ (Interview 1). Hawkers ‘‘only
wear hats to show the authorities when they come to check’’ (Interview 3) and ‘‘have hats
and aprons kept behind the stall ready to put on when they spot the authorities coming
to check’’ (Interview 4).

Licensing
Nine out of 50 (18 per cent) hawkers sampled for the questionnaire were unlicensed, thus
indicating some ineffectiveness in licensing. The true number may be higher as there is
the possibility that many hawkers may lie for fear of the consequences, saying that they
are licensed when they are not. For example, 66.7 per cent of hawkers said that sharing a
license with the coffee shop they rent from was the reason they had no license of their
own (Figure 1). In these cases, it has been noted that the coffee shop owner is in charge of
the premise and its maintenance and rents out space within the shop to hawkers to
operate on. These hawkers then operate under one license that has been obtained by the
coffee shop owner. The coffee shop owners are often not involved in food preparation,
thus food safety training obtained when applying for a license may only be given to the
coffee shop owner and not the hawkers who are directly handling the food.

Figure 1.
Reasons for not being
licensed
The interviews also highlighted that restrictions by the local authority on areas to Hawker food
operate and ineffective reinforcing of licensing were other reasons for unlicensed
hawkers (‘‘many places such as the roadside do not allow hawkers to set up their stalls
industry
but they still want to settle there’’ and the ‘‘the control authority does not try to search
and find them’’ – Interview 1). In addition, poor monitoring of unlicensed hawkers may
also add to the problem (‘‘the control authority does not try to search and find’’
unlicensed hawkers – Interview 1). The above findings may be worrying as it is known
that licensing is one of the main methods used by the control authority to provide food 45
Downloaded by Symbiosis International University Pune, Professor Suresh Patil At 06:59 13 May 2019 (PT)

safety training and encourage FSP in hawkers (Economic Research Service/USDA,


2002; Medina Pizzali, 2001; FAO, 1999; Ministry of Health, 1983, 1985).

Training
Only 60 per cent of hawkers sampled for the questionnaire had undergone training, and
the majority of these (93 per cent) had only basic food safety training. No hawkers
sampled underwent HACCP (hazard awareness and critical control point) training,
although it is an internationally recognized system for food safety assurance (WHO,
1996) and has been encouraged by the Malaysian government for the hawker industry
(Merican, 2000). As mentioned previously, an ineffective licensing system maybe a
reason for the limited number of trained hawkers in this study.
Another reason maybe that several of the hawker stalls in this study were run by
families and only one family member (the person who applies for the license) is required to
undergo training in order to open a stall. For example, 25 per cent of the untrained hawkers
said that they did not have training because another family had already undergone
training. Thus, family members who also participate in food preparation maybe untrained.
Also, according to the interviews results, hawkers must pay ‘‘[1]RM60 per training lesson’’,
which may discourage hawkers to go for training. A 6.7 per cent of hawkers answering the
questionnaire mentioned ‘‘paying for training’’ as a disadvantage (Figure 2).

Figure 2.
Disadvantages of training
NFS The average (median) FSK scores did not differ between untrained hawkers and those
38,1 with basic food safety training (majority of trained hawkers in the study). This may be
due to potential weaknesses in the training programme highlighted in the
questionnaire and interview results. For example, 33 per cent of hawkers mentioned
training ‘‘in Malay language only’’ as a disadvantage in which several Chinese hawkers
with little education ‘‘do not understand’’ and instead ‘‘fall asleep’’ during training
46 (Interviews 1 and 4). Moreover, training with Mandarin translation may not be
understood by some hawkers who have no formal education (Interview 4). This may
Downloaded by Symbiosis International University Pune, Professor Suresh Patil At 06:59 13 May 2019 (PT)

also be a reason for the lower FSK in the Chinese.


There may also be reservations over the appropriateness of training content as some
training programmes ‘‘show pictures and a short film of how they prepare food that is
served in an aeroplane’’ (Interview 4) which maybe inappropriate for the hawker
industry. FSP also did not significantly differ between trained and untrained hawkers,
concurring with previous literature (Zain, 2002).

Relocation to designated sites


As previously mentioned, designated sites had the highest percentage of hawkers
stating that it was clean and organized, the only premise to have the advantage of
government-provided food safety facilities and scored the highest in FSP (Table I). The
questionnaire results also showed that hawkers believed other premises had
disadvantages associated with poor hygiene (i.e. unhygienic environment, traffic/
congestion, poor drainage facilities and poor waste disposal facilities) that were not
mentioned for designated sites (Table II). This supports previous suggestions that they
are generally more hygienic than other premises and relocation to designated sites can
be a feasible method of ensuring food safety (WHO, 1996).
However, the results have also highlighted a major disadvantage of designated sites
in regards to poor access to customers that may inherently discourage hawkers to work

Type of premise
Designated Day/night By the Rented
site market roadside Mobile coffee shop
Advantages of premise (n ¼ 22) (n ¼ 2) (n ¼ 7) (n ¼ 7) (n ¼ 12)

Clean/organised 5 0 0 0 2
22.7% 0% 0% 0% 16.7%
Food safety facilities 5 0 0 0 0
22.7% 0% 0% 0% 0%
Near to customers 13 2 6 6 11
59.1% 100% 85.7% 85.7% 91.7%
Near to home 1 0 0 5 2
4.5% 0% 0% 71.4% 16.7%
Cheap rental fee 1 0 0 0 0
4.5% 0% 0% 0% 0%
Many parking spaces for customers 0 0 1 0 0
0% 0% 14.3% 0% 0%
No advantages 2 0 1 1 0
Table I. 9.1% 0% 14.3% 14.3% 0%
Advantage mentioned
by hawkers of each Note: Percentage values denote the percentage of hawkers within the premise type that have
premise type mentioned the advantage
Type of premise Hawker food
Designated Day/night By the Rented coffee industry
site market roadside Mobile shop
Advantages of premise (n ¼ 22) (n ¼ 2) (n ¼ 7) (n ¼ 7) (n ¼ 12)

Limited customers 4 0 0 0 0
18.2% 0% 0% 0% 0%
Unhygienic environment 0 2 2 1 0 47
Downloaded by Symbiosis International University Pune, Professor Suresh Patil At 06:59 13 May 2019 (PT)

0% 100% 100% 14.3% 0%


Traffic/congestion 0 0 1 1 0
0% 0% 14.3% 14.3% 0%
Poor drainage facilities 0 0 2 0 1
0% 0% 28.6% 0% 8.3%
Limited customer parking space 1 0 1 0 3
4.5% 0% 14.3% 0% 25%
Poor waste disposal facilities 0 0 0 0 1
0% 0% 0% 0% 8.3%
Competition 9 0 0 0 1
40.9% 0% 0% 0% 8.3%
Limited tables for customers 1 0 0 0 0
4.5% 0% 0% 0% 0%
High cost of food safety facilities 2 0 0 0 0
9.1% 0% 0% 0% 0%
Premise is long distance from home 0 0 0 0 1
0% 0% 0% 0% 8.3%
Must pay for renovation 0 1 0 0 0
0% 50% 0% 0% 0%
No disadvantages 6 0 4 5 7
27.3% 0% 57.1% 71.4% 58.3% Table II.
Disadvantage mentioned
Note: Percentage values denote the percentage of hawkers within the premise type that have by hawkers within each
mentioned the disadvantage premise type

on this premise type. Amongst all premise types, designated sites had the lowest
percentage of hawkers mentioning ‘‘being near to customers’’ as an advantage (59.1 per
cent), it was the only premise mentioned to have ‘‘limited customers/limited tables for
customers’’ and had by far the most hawkers mentioning ‘‘competition’’ for customers
as a disadvantage (40.9 per cent). The interviews revealed that in some designated sites
‘‘each hawker can only have four eating tables for customers’’ which is ‘‘not good for
business’’, and that competition causes ‘‘many hawkers to quarrel with each other’’
(Interview 3). In addition, designated sites were associated with ‘‘high cost of food
safety facilities’’ and hawkers having ‘‘to pay for maintenance of the site themselves’’
because of ‘‘slow maintenance’’ of the premise (Interview 3).
Thus, hawkers may prefer to work in other premise types that have access to more
customers, despite the fact that they may not be as hygienic or easy to maintain good
food safety practices. This is supported by the interview results mentioning that
‘‘working on the roadside is better’’ than working on a designated site because ‘‘there is
better business and less competition on the roadside’’ (Interview 3); and yet all the
hawkers sampled from roadside stalls mentioned ‘‘an unhygienic environment’’ as a
disadvantage.
Therefore the results suggest that designated sites may not be an effective method
of improving food safety of hawkers.
NFS Differences in food safety performance and food safety strategies
38,1 The questionnaire results showed significantly better FSK (Mann-Whitney test,
p ¼ 0.044) and FSP (Mann-Whitney test, p ¼ 0.016) of hawkers in Kuala Lumpur
compared to Taiping, suggesting that FSK/FSP varies from urban to less urban
locations. This may be due to hawkers in Taiping having significantly less training
than those in Kuala Lumpur (Chi-squared test, p ¼ 0.004) (Table III).
48 The interview results also suggested that government regulations on training were
more relaxed in Taiping where hawkers ‘‘only need to go once for training’’ or not at all
Downloaded by Symbiosis International University Pune, Professor Suresh Patil At 06:59 13 May 2019 (PT)

before receiving a license (Interviews 3 and 4), compared with Kuala Lumpur where
training is needed before receiving/renewing a license and must be undergone ‘‘once
every three years’’ (Interviews 1 and 2). Variations in the regulations/policies adopted
by different local authorities in different areas may also contribute to the differences in
FSP. Each local authority has its own regulations/policies on hawkers operating within
its boundaries (Jayasuriya, 1994). The interview results suggested that in Taiping, the
food safety regulations are more lenient than those in Kuala Lumpur. In Kuala Lumpur,
the control authority would ‘‘give a warning and close the stall for one month if it is not
hygienic’’ and they would request the hawker to ‘‘make the stall hygienic within this
time or else they won’t give back the license’’ (Interview 1), but in Taiping they are
‘‘quite relaxed’’, ‘‘come and give a warning if you do not follow the regulations but
nothing else’’ and ‘‘give a warning that they are coming’’ before doing a spot-check
(Interview 3).
The questionnaire results also suggested that FSK and FSP differs between
different areas of Kuala Lumpur, with FSK (Mann-Whitney test, p ¼ 0.006) and FSP
(Mann-Whitney test, p ¼ 0.016) being significantly higher in Area 2 of Kuala Lumpur
than for Area 1. This difference is unlikely to be due to variation between food safety
policies/regulations within Kuala Lumpur, because the city is under one local authority
(City Hall) (Medina Pizzali, 2001).
However, the interview results suggested that some areas in Kuala Lumpur have
cleaner/more hygienic stalls than other areas because some ‘‘are more high class with
more educated people and other areas are more low class’’ and it depends on the
educational level of hawkers and if ‘‘the customer demands more cleaner’’ stalls. Thus,
variations in educational level of hawkers/consumers and customer demands maybe a
more likely reason for any difference in hawker food safety performance within Kuala
Lumpur. This supports prior literature that has suggested that consumer preference
and education could strongly influence food safety standards of hawkers (WHO, 1996;
Ariffin, 1993).

Training
Area Yes No Total

Table III. Kuala Lumpur Count 20 5 25


Number/percentage of % of total 40.0% 10.0% 50.0%
trained and untrained Taiping Count 10 15 25
hawkers in Kuala % of total 20.0% 30.0% 50.0%
Lumpur and Taiping Total Count 30 20 50
(n ¼ 50) % of total 60.0% 40.0% 100.0%
Limitations Hawker food
The main limitation of this study is the small sample collected both for the survey industry
(n ¼ 50) and interviews (n ¼ 4), and the unequal sample number between the three
ethnic groups/religions and between the different premise types, which may not have
been an accurate representation of the hawker population.
Limited number of questions/criteria used to assess FSK and FSP (due to time
constraints for hawkers and the study), potential misinterpretation/understanding of 49
questions by hawkers, collecting data at different hawker business periods, targeting
Downloaded by Symbiosis International University Pune, Professor Suresh Patil At 06:59 13 May 2019 (PT)

questionnaires to different types of hawkers at a stall (e.g. main hawker in charge or


his’/her’s helpers) and the potential false feedback from hawkers may have also
affected the reliability of the results.

Conclusions
This study has shown that religion and type of hawker premise are socio-demographic
factors that may affect hawker FSK and FSP, along with race and educational level.
The finding that Muslim hawkers (mostly Malays) had better food safety performance
than Buddhists (mostly Chinese hawkers) in this study, may build on previous research
in explaining why Chinese hawkers have been found to have lower food safety
knowledge/practice than Malays (Toh and Birchenough, 2000; Toh et al., 2000).
This study has also revealed potential ineffectiveness of food safety regulations/
guidelines, licensing, training and relocation. It has highlighted possible inadequate
distribution/impracticality of regulations/guidelines for hawkers, potential ambiguities
with government licensing procedures (e.g. hawkers sharing licenses with coffee
shops), weaknesses in training programmes (e.g. using Malay language only in some
cases) and significant complaints of government designated sites by hawkers. The
discovery of poorer food safety performance and training in a less urban setting and
even variations in food safety performance within the same region (of Kuala Lumpur),
suggests further government ineffectiveness in regulating food safety of hawkers
across Malaysia.
Thus, to ensure food safety of hawker foods in Malaysia, government food safety
strategies must be reinforced. This may include distributing food safety guidelines in
training programmes, addressing loop holes in the licensing/training system (e.g. new
regulations to ensure that all hawkers must possess their own license and that all
persons/family members involved in preparation of hawker foods undergo training),
delivering training in a variety of languages, implementing strategies to encourage
more customers to designated hawker sites (e.g. increasing customer parking spaces)
and standardizing food safety polices through out all regions of Malaysia. In addition,
the importance of customer access/satisfaction to hawkers merits the need to
encourage consumer participation in the improvement food safety of the hawker
industry in Malaysia. Implementing an award/grading system for hawkers’ stalls
based on cleanliness/hygiene of the premise (implemented in Singapore) (Ministry of
the Environment, 2000), could attract more customers to clean/hygienic stalls and thus
compel hawkers to improve their food safety standards.
Food safety of hawker foods is needed more now in Malaysia than ever, as this
study has also highlighted the increasing popularity of Malaysian hawker foods
amongst tourists, even in less urban regions of Malaysia (Interview 3 revealed that
‘‘Taiping is quite popular with foreigners’’ with several foreigners eating at hawker
stalls in Taiping).
NFS Note
38,1 1. RM60  £9 Sterling.

References
Ariffin, A. (1993), ‘‘Food control and consumer affairs in developing countries’’, Food, Nutrition
and Agriculture, Vols. 8-9, pp. 24-31, FAO, available at: www.fao.org/docrep/V2890T/
v2890t00.htm#Contents
50
Aronson, J. (1994), ‘‘A pragmatic view of thematic analysis’’, The Qualitative Report, Vol. 2 No. 1,
Downloaded by Symbiosis International University Pune, Professor Suresh Patil At 06:59 13 May 2019 (PT)

available at: www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/BackIssues/QR2-1/aronson.html


Dunnett, S. (2003), ‘‘Literature review: street foods’’, Energy and Street Food, Project Completion
Report, Intermediate Technology Development Group, available at: www.itdg.org/docs/
energy/energy_and_street_foods_final_report_r7663.pdf
Economic Research Service/USDA (2002), ‘‘Enhancing food safety in the APEC region’’, World
Agriculture and Trade, Agricultural Outlook, December, pp. 28-32, available at:
www.ers.usda.gov/publications/agoutlook/Dec2002/ao297i.pdf
FAO (1999), Final Report on the Seminar: Regional Seminar on Street Food Development,
Bangkok, Thailand, 29 September-1 October, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.
Food link (2002), ‘‘Test your food safety knowledge’’, Food and Drink Federation, available at:
www.foodlink.org.uk/foodlink_knowledge.pdf
Hassan, N. (2003), ‘‘Accommodating the street hawkers into modern urban management in Kuala
Lumpur’’, Proceedings of the 39th ISoCaRP Congress 2003, available at: www.isocarp.org/
Data/case_studies/293.pdf
Jayasuriya, D.C. (1994), ‘‘Street foods vending in Asia: some policy and legal aspects’’, Food
Control, Vol. 5 No. 4, pp. 222-6.
Lim, V.K.E. (1999), ‘‘Emerging and re-emerging infections’’, Malaysian Medical Association,
available at: www.mma.org.my/info/3_emerging_99.htm
Lim, V.K.E. (2001), ‘‘Cholera: a re-emerging infection’’, Medical Journal of Malaysia, Vol. 56 No. 1,
pp. 1-3.
Lim, V.K.E. (2002), ‘‘Foodborne diseases in Malaysia’’, Medical Journal of Malaysia, Vol. 57, pp. 1-2,
available at: www.mma.org.my/info/1_foodborne_02.htm
Medina Pizzali, A.F. (2001), ‘‘Low-cost fish retailing equipment and facilities in large urban areas
of Southeast Asia’’, FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 405, FAO, available at: www.fao.org/
DOCREP/005/Y2258E/y2258e00.htm#Contents
Meftahuddin, T. (2002), ‘‘Review of the trends and causes of food borne outbreaks in Malaysia
from 1988 to 1997’’, Medical Journal of Malaysia, Vol. 57 No. 1, pp. 70-9.
Merican, Z. (2000), ‘‘The role of government agencies in assessing HACCP – the Malaysian
procedure’’, Food Control, Vol. 11 No. 5, pp. 371-2.
Ministry of Health Malaysia (1980), ‘‘Code of practice for food hygiene’’, Food Quality Control
Division, MOH, Malaysia, available at: www.moh.gov.my/fqc/index.htm
Ministry of Health Malaysia (1983), Food Act, Food Quality Control Division, MOH, Malaysia,
available at: www.moh.gov.my/fqc/index.htm
Ministry of Health Malaysia (1985), Food Regulations, Food Quality Control Division, MOH,
Malaysia, available at: www.moh.gov.my/fqc/index.htm
Ministry of Health Malaysia (1997), ‘‘Guidelines on good hygiene practices for small and medium
scale food industries towards HACCP’’, Food Quality Control Division, MOH, Malaysia,
available at: www.moh.gov.my/fqc/index.htm
Ministry of the Environment (2000), Annual Report 2000, National Environment Agency,
Singapore, available at: www.nea.gov.sg/cms/ccird/pg_48_53.pdf
Toh, P.S. and Birchenough, A. (2000), ‘‘Food safety knowledge and attitudes: culture and Hawker food
environment impact on hawkers in Malaysia’’, Food Control, Vol. 11 No. 6, pp. 447-52.
Toh, P.S., Birchenough, A. and Smalley, T. (2000), ‘‘Risk assessment: foodhandling practices and
industry
food-contact surfaces of hawkers in Malaysia’’, International Journal of Environmental
Health Research, Vol. 10 No. 3, pp. 191-201.
WHO (1996), Food Safety Issues: Essential Safety Requirements for Street-Vended Foods, rev. ed.,
Food Safety Unit, Division of Food and Nutrition, World Health Organization, Washington,
DC. 51
Downloaded by Symbiosis International University Pune, Professor Suresh Patil At 06:59 13 May 2019 (PT)

WHO (2002), ‘‘Food-borne diseases, emerging’’, WHO Factsheets, available at: www.who.int/
mediacentre/factsheets/fs124/en/
Winarno, F.G. and Allain, A. (1991), ‘‘Street foods in developing countries: lessons from Asia’’,
Food, Nutrition and Agriculture, Vol. 1, FAO, available at: www.fao.org/documents/
show_cdr.asp?url_file=/docrep/U3550t/u3550t00.htm
Yasmeen, G. (2001), ‘‘Workers in the urban informal food sector: innovative organizing
strategies’’, Food, Nutrition and Agriculture, Vol. 29, FAO, available at: www.fao.org/
DOCREP/004/Y1931M/y1931m00.htm#TopOfPage
Zain, M.M. and Naing, N.N. (2002), ‘‘Sociodemographichic characteristics of food handlers and
their knowledge, attitude and practice towards food sanitation: a preliminary report’’,
Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health, Vol. 33 No. 2, pp. 410-7.

Corresponding author
Fiona Pang can be contacted at: lingseepoh@yahoo.co.uk, ugm1fp@leeds.ac.uk

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: reprints@emeraldinsight.com


Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints
This article has been cited by:

1. Joan C. Henderson. Street Food and Tourism: A Southeast Asian Perspective 45-57. [Crossref]
2. Stephen Edem Hiamey, Grace Aba Hiamey. 2018. Street food consumption in a Ghanaian Metropolis:
The concerns determining consumption and non-consumption. Food Control 92, 121-127. [Crossref]
3. Rungsaran Wongprawmas, Maurizio Canavari. 2017. Consumers’ willingness-to-pay for food safety labels
in an emerging market: The case of fresh produce in Thailand. Food Policy 69, 25-34. [Crossref]
4. Buliyaminu Adegbemiro Alimi. 2016. Risk factors in street food practices in developing countries: A
review. Food Science and Human Wellness 5:3, 141-148. [Crossref]
Downloaded by Symbiosis International University Pune, Professor Suresh Patil At 06:59 13 May 2019 (PT)

5. Sharifah Zannierah Syed Marzuki. 2016. Halal Certification: A Viewpoint From Malaysian Restaurant
Managers. Asia Pacific Journal of Business Review 1:1, 23-39. [Crossref]
6. Joan C. Henderson. 2016. Halal food, certification and halal tourism: Insights from Malaysia and
Singapore. Tourism Management Perspectives 19, 160-164. [Crossref]
7. Nor Fyadzillah Mohd Taha. The Perceptions of Malaysians in a Japanese Company: A Case Study in
Shimano Components (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd 177-186. [Crossref]
8. Yudi Fernando, Hooi Huang Ng, Yusliza Yusoff. 2014. Activities, motives and external factors influencing
food safety management system adoption in Malaysia. Food Control 41, 69-75. [Crossref]
9. Angelo Camillo, M. Shahrim Ab. Karim. 2014. Consumer Attitudes and Perceptions towards Western
Cuisine: A Strategic Investigation of the Italian Restaurant Industry in Malaysia. Journal of Foodservice
Business Research 17:2, 103-121. [Crossref]
10. Vloreen Nity Mathew, Ardiana Mazwa Raudah binti Amir Abdullah, Siti Nurazizah binti Mohamad Ismail.
2014. Acceptance on Halal Food among Non-Muslim Consumers. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences
121, 262-271. [Crossref]
11. Ilaria Proietti, Chiara Frazzoli, Alberto Mantovani. 2014. Identification and management of toxicological
hazards of street foods in developing countries. Food and Chemical Toxicology 63, 143-152. [Crossref]
12. Joan C. Henderson, Ong Si Yun, Priscilla Poon, Xu Biwei. 2012. Hawker centres as tourist attractions:
The case of Singapore. International Journal of Hospitality Management 31:3, 849-855. [Crossref]
13. Sharifah Zannierah Syed Marzuki, Colin Michael Hall, Paul William Ballantine. 2012. Restaurant Manager
and Halal Certification in Malaysia. Journal of Foodservice Business Research 15:2, 195-214. [Crossref]
14. Anja K. Franck. 2012. Factors motivating women's informal micro‐entrepreneurship. International Journal
of Gender and Entrepreneurship 4:1, 65-78. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
15. Sharifah Zannierah Syed Marzuki, Collin Michael Hall, Paul William Ballantine. 2012. Restaurant
managers' perspectives on halal certification. Journal of Islamic Marketing 3:1, 47-58. [Abstract] [Full
Text] [PDF]
16. Anja K. Franck. 2010. "I am Too Old! Who is Going to Give Me a Job?" Women Hawkers in Teluk
Bahang, Penang, Malaysia. Journal of Workplace Rights 15:1, 111-132. [Crossref]

Vous aimerez peut-être aussi