Knowledge and practices of food hygiene and safety among camel milk handlers in the pastoral camel value chain in Kenya

Abstract

Camel milk contributes up to 30% of pastoral community annual caloric intake making it one of the main diets for the pastoral community. In addition, camel milk is a major source of income and serves significant cultural functions in pastoral communities. Despite these, camel milk production and marketing is faced with a number of challenges, especially poor handling practices that contribute to high post-harvest losses due to poor quality and safety. Poor handling practices have been reported to be associated with poor knowledge and practices of food hygiene and safety among the pastoral camel milk value chain actors. The study aimed at determining the level of food hygiene and safety knowledge and practices of camel milk value chain actors. A structured questionnaire, focus group discussions and key informant interviews were used to collect data on hygienic milk handling knowledge and practices along the camel milk value chain. Each point along the chain showed a significant difference (p