CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
In recent years, with the improvement of people's living standards, the rising consumption levels and the development of the tourism industry, hotels have become integral parts in cities. Food safety management was undoubtedly the most fundamental and significant connection in management (Ccb et al., 2014). During the 1990s, with the arrangement of the issue of food and clothing in China, sanitation issues started to change from quantity wellbeing issues to quality security ones. An enormous number of sanitation issues, for example, "melamine" (2008), "Sudan Red" occasion (2005), "clenbuterol" occasion (2006), "squander oil" occasion (2010), happened and carried a progression of negative impacts to the hotel business, genuinely endangering the human life wellbeing, causing a wide scope of social concern and frenzy (Klein et al., 2012).
Since health and safety is a global issue of concern, and in order to safeguard customers’ health against the risk of food poisoning arising from unhygienic conditions of preparation, especially at public eating places like hotels and restaurants, certain health and safety laws are put in place by governments to regulate hotel and restaurant business operations (WHO, 2007). The purpose of the law is to regulate human activities (Schmalleger, 2006; and Aibor and Olorunda, 2006) in order to ensure that human and other forms of existence are not jeopardized in any way which includes health and safety. Even though laws are meant to be obeyed, certain degree of enforcement is necessary to serve as a measure of control. For example, in 1990, the Food Safety Act, which is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom was promulgated following a prolonged period of frequent food poison outbreaks. Although “The Food Safety Act” states in its part one that an operator of a public eating place is responsible for ensuring that the food in his or her food establishment is safe for human consumption, enforcement of the Act became necessary following reported outbreaks of food poisoning such as the E- coli outbreak in Scotland in 1996, six years after the enactment of the Act (FAO/WHO, 2003; Blanch, 2003).
Each region and country has their own specific laws, Acts or Regulations which guide the operations of public eating places. Bauchi state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria bears the same name as its administrative capital – Bauchi, and adopts the National Environmental Health Practice Regulations of 2007(Revised) as published by the Honorable Minister of Federal Ministry of Environment and Housing, Abuja. This document specifies the guidelines, as well as the enforcement powers bestowed on Environmental Health Officers to prevent and abate nuisance, protect, preserve and promote the physical, mental, spiritual and social well-being of the public through the prevention and control of the incidences of communicable diseases through environmental health interventions, and regulating private and public sector collaboration for the purpose of maintaining adequate sanitation, promoting public health and safety.
The expected result of enforcement is compliance to the rules, laws or regulations being enforced by the appropriate authority. In Bauchi metropolis, it has been reported that in spite of the existence of the Food Safety Act and the National Environmental Health Practice Regulations, as well as the powers conferred on the Honorable Minister of Environment by Section 40 of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency Act of Nigeria to enforce these Environmental Practice Regulations, there are still hygiene and sanitation lapses in the provision of foods and drinks in public places, (Ningi,2009; Yakubu,2009; Abdulsallam, 2009). The results of these researchers separate and respective studies on bacterial qualities of cereal and bean dumplings, ready to eat salads, and ice creams sold in public places in Bauchi metropolis show high percentage content of staphylococcus aureus, shigella Escherichia coli (E.coli), salmonella sp and bacillus sp, of public health significance. From their investigations, it was evidently clear that poor personal and production environment hygiene practices, insalubrious sources of water and non-adherence to other basic sanitation rules are responsible for the presence of these bacteria in the foods and drinks sold to the public.
The consequence of this unchecked potential public health risk was proved by the outcome of investigation by Aliboh (2009) on Antibiogram and Serum Resistance of E. Coli Isolated from Clinical Specimen in Bauchi revealed that a disturbing re-occurrence rate of E. coli infection in both children and adults as confirmed by the records made available at the Bauchi State Specialist Hospital, just as the World Health Organization (WHO) in its 2007 World Health Report flagged an alert on the increase in food-borne disease outbreaks in many other parts of the world. Also, projects carried out by graduating students as well as field reports presented by students of the Hospitality and Tourism Management Department of the Federal Polytechnic Bauchi, who were returning from Industrial Training in many hotel establishments in the Bauchi metropolis, indicate observed unhygienic conditions of operation in the hotels where they are attached, especially in the food and beverage production and service areas (Adediran, 2003; Dimfwina, 2004; Idowu, 2005). This condition can undoubtedly result in food contamination and if ingested in appreciable quantity may lead to food borne-diseases.
The aftereffect of eating contaminated food will be food poisoning (Duyff, 2006). While precise statistics figures were accessible for the developed nations, WHO expresses a concerned about the non-documentation of food poisoning cases and food-borne diseases in developing nations of which Nigeria is one (World Health Organization, 2008). Since food borne diseases may go undocumented, the absence of a disease brake up will bring about a false security which reduces vigilance and a relaxing of adherence to successful prevention programmes, for example, maintenance of hygiene and sanitation measures as pre-empted by the World Health Report (2007).
Another significant issue of documentation here is that endemic surveillances are frequently done by governments utilizing statistics accessible at public hospitals or clinics. These records are typically of the general masses, larger part of which do not eat in esteemed hotels. Assumedly, food poisoning coming from food pollution in a hotel may not be promptly recognizable to such a hotel since people who eat from the hotels are often guests who may just show side effects of food poisoning a lot later after they have checked out of the hotels and have gone to different parts of the nation and beyond. In that capacity, the impact of hygiene and sanitation infractions by hoteliers and restaurateurs may not be perceptible or have all the earmarks of being exceptionally destroying or even result in an endemic food-borne outbreak to attract authority’s attention. However the impact on even an individual may prompt a small percentage of some long term medical issues (Duyff, 2006). This in the long run has multiplier impacts on the family and society.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
One of the four fundamental standards of the European Environmental Policy as called attention to by Ramsley and Ingram (2004) is prevention is better than cure. The cost of restoring food-borne diseases outbreaks as featured by WHO Fact Sheet, (2007) creates a serious social and monetary weight on communities and their health system as clinical costs and lost efficiency. One approach to guarantee that hotel and restaurant operators do not compromise customers’ wellbeing in the provision of food and beverages is for the regulatory and enforcement agencies to continually oversee to guarantee nonstop compliance with set down food hygiene and sanitation rules and guidelines as contended by the FAO/WHO (2003). It is on this claim, that this study seeks to explore to understand the hygiene and sanitation compliance levels in hotels’ food and beverage operations in Bauchi metropolis and the degree to which relevant regulatory and enforcement authorities were hotels compliance with food hygiene and sanitation guidelines so as to guarantee prevention of food poisoning and foodborne diseases rather than to cure people affected by this threat.
1.3 Research Objectives
The broad objective of this study was to assess the level of compliance of hotels in Bauchi State with hygiene and sanitation regulations. This will be achieved by addressing the following specific objectives;
i) To find out if hotel operators are aware of the equipment operation components of food hygiene legislation in Bauchi metropolis
ii) To determine if there is any significant relationship between awareness of and compliance with equipment operation components of food hygiene legislation in Bauchi metropolis
iii) To assess the extent to which hotel operators comply with the equipment operation components of food hygiene legislation in Bauchi metropolis
1.4 Research Questions
The following are the research questions that this study seeks to answer:
i) Are hotel operators aware of the equipment operation components of food hygiene legislation in Bauchi metropolis?
ii) Is there is any significant relationship between awareness of and compliance with equipment operation components of food hygiene legislation in Bauchi metropolis?
iii) What is the extent to which hotel operators comply with the equipment operation components of food hygiene legislation in Bauchi metropolis?
1.5 Research Hypotheses
This study was guided by the following alternative hypotheses;
i) The level of compliance of hotels in Bauchi metropolis with equipment operation components of food hygiene legislation.
ii) There is a significant relationship between awareness of and compliance with equipment operation components of food hygiene legislation in Bauchi metropolis.
1.6 Significance of the Study
Compliance with hygiene and sanitation standards by hotels will assure safeguarded public health through hygienic food preparation, leading to prevention of food contamination and sanitation-related disease outbreaks. The findings of this study will benefit stakeholders in the sector as it will serve as a guide to regulatory agencies in coming up with strategies that will ensure strict compliance with sanitation laws by hotels in Bauchi State. Hoteliers and restaurateurs will benefit from the understanding of their social responsibility of safeguarding public health through their operations. This study will also serve as reference material for future research.
1.7 Scope of the Study
This study covered the activities of the food and beverage departments of Urban and Suburban classified hotels in Bauchi. It is limited to the Food Safety Act (1990) and the National Environmental Health Practice Regulations of 2007 (Revised) of Nigeria’s provision on food hygiene and safety as well as the relevant statutory functions of the Bauchi State Environmental Protection Agency (BASEPA), The Bauchi State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (BSPHDA) and the Bauchi state chapter of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, (NTDC).
1.8 Limitations of the Study
During the study, data was collected only from hotel operators and food and beverage production and service staff, and the three relevant regulatory bodies but not from customers or the general public. This is because since customers are not allowed to the production (or back) areas of the hotels, and also, there are yet no reported outbreaks of food poisoning linked to the hospitality industry in Bauchi, the customers may not have any information as to the true hygiene and sanitary conditions of the hotels‟ food production areas. Another form of limitation for this study is lack of proper documentation of hygiene related crisis in Nigeria, especially in Bauchi state which can serve as a point of reference. This is a general problem of developing countries.
1.9 Assumptions of the Study
The assumptions for the study are as follows:
- Catering Operators to some extent are knowledgeable about equipment operation components of food hygiene in Bauchi Metropolis.
- There is a link between awareness and compliance with equipment operation component legislature in Bauchi Metropolis.
1.10 Operational Definition of Terms
The following terms were used in the course of carrying out this study:
Disinfection: destruction of microorganisms to a level not hazardous to health or likely to cause food spoilage
Equipment: All the tools used in the storage, preparation, cooking and service of food in the hotels. Food: a substance taken into the body to maintain life (Eastham et al, 2001).
Food Business: any undertaking whether for profit or not, and whether for public or private, carrying out any of the activities related to any stage of production, processing and distribution of food (Regulation No 178/2002, cited in McLauchlin and Little, 2007).
Food Contamination: food is said to be contaminated when it contains any unacceptable matter which can be in the form of microorganisms, poisons, or physical contaminants such as pieces of glass or metal (Blanch, 2003).
Food Hygiene: all sanitary measures, principles and procedures put in place to ensure that food is free from agents of contamination or disease germs in any form in order to promote a healthy living.
