The Food Safety Culture of A Night Market

Night markets are a popular food destination among tourists in Southeast Asia. The off-premise nature of these destinations results in a higher risk for food contamination which has brought about the need to improve food safety culture in these destinations. Previous studies have focused primarily on food sanitation practices of vendors; however, food safety culture has been highlighted in recent years as an effective means for improving safety practices. That is why, the study examined the food safety culture of vendors of a night market in Cebu City, Philippines. This descriptive research utilized self-administered survey questionnaires to 40 night market vendors. Results showed high mean scores in the indicators of management and coworker support, communication and self-commitment while lower scores on environment support, work pressure and risk judgment. It is concluded that employees’ workload, provision of timely information and feedback are indicators that increase the level of food safety culture. The study highlights the role of management as food safety procedures are followed at a certain extent but time and management pressures contribute to a decrease in following safe food handling.