Programa de educación sanitaria de alimentos preparados en vendedores de expendio ambulante del cantón Huaquillas.

Abstract

Introduction: In Latin America there are at least 140 million people working in informal conditions. In Ecuador, from December 2017 to the end of 2018, the uncertainty of the employment situation raised informal work to two percentage points, with an upward trend, as a result of the covid-19 pandemic, the street sale of prepared food has increased. Transformed into an economic, political, and health problem, where the lack of hygiene standards application gives rise to foodborne diseases, causing a clinical picture of vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, etc. In the city of Huaquillas, Province of El Oro, commerce, shrimp production, and agriculture are activities that attract a large number of people, for which reason the sale of street food has grown excessively with little sanitary control. Objectives: a sanitary education program on prepared foods is proposed, created and developed for street food vendors in the canton. Methodology: an initial diagnosis of the conditions found was made with tools such as: surveys and microbiological analysis of food samples. Subsequently, a comparative study was carried out after the execution of the program to determine the effects generated. Results: a considerable decrease in the presence of microorganisms in food was evidenced, because now they are hygienically prepared. Conclusions: the change of thought and awareness in the participants becomes an example to follow, to maintain public health care in the canton.