Analysis of safety issues in household meat consumption in Odeda local government area, Ogun state

Abstract

The study analyzed the safety problems with household meat consumption in Odeda Local Government Area, Ogun state, Nigeria. The objectives were to describe the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents; assess the level of awareness of safety issues in households’ meat consumption; and evaluate the socio-economic determinants of household awareness on safety issues in meat consumption. The study was based on primary data collected from 80 heads of households within the study area using a simple random sampling technique. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression model. The result showed that 51.3% of the respondents were between 21-30 years of age, most (55.0%) were female, and most (63.7%) were single while about 58% of the respondents had a household size of between 2-5 members. About 36.3% of the respondents were self-employed with 43.7% having a monthly income of between ₦61,000 - ₦80,000. The result revealed that 93.7% of the respondents are aware of the safety problems with household meat consumption while 6.3% are unaware of consumption the problems. The study also showed that gender (p<0.05), monthly income (p<0.10) and educational level (p<0.10) were pivotal in determining the awareness of the household on safety issues in meat consumption at 5%, 10% and 10% level of significance respectively. The hypothesis tested showed that there was no significant difference between the level of awareness and safety issues in household meat consumption. Therefore, it was concluded that households are partially aware of safety problems with meat consumption but lack adequate knowledge on food safety practices. Thus, the study recommended the empowerment of the heads of household through adequate employment to increase their purchasing of quality and uncontaminated food. Also, relevant food safety educations on how to ensure food is uncontaminated should be provided.

Keywords: Meat, consumption, safety, awareness, households