Knowledge of Food Safety Practices Among Locust Beans Processors in Oyo State

The African locust bean is an important local food condiment used as flavor for soups and stews in Nigeria; however, it is fast losing its popularity due to poor safety practices among locust beans processors. Hence, this study examined the knowledge of safety practices among locust beans processors in Oyo state. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select 98 respondents for this study. Structured questionnaires were used to collect information on respondents’ socio-economic characteristics, attitudeas well as knowledge of food safety practices. Data were analysed using descriptive statistical analysis using frequency and percentage. The average age of respondents was 38 years with majority in their active years of between 31 and 40 years of age. Most (55.1%) having unfavourable attitude towards food safety practices. More than half (62.2%) of the processors had low knowledge on food safety practices on locust beans processing. The study concluded that locust beans processors’ knowledge of food safety practices were low and it is recommended thattraining and sensitization programmes should be conducted by health workers, extension agents, NGOs and other relevant stakeholders in the enterprise to boost locust beans processors’ level of awareness and knowledge of food safety practices to prevent health risk associated with food borne diseases.