The study count by country and type of food sold is shown in Table 2 . In some studies, vendors sold more than one type of food, e.g. both raw and cooked fish. These studies were categorised separately to account for the different hygiene and handling risks and pathogens commonly associated with raw and cooked foods and to identify whether food handling behaviour differed depending on the type of food sold. Twenty-one studies were set in formal markets and included a sub-set of vendors from the market in the study. Twenty-five studies assessed vendors from clusters of stalls distributed across a town or city. The study setting and sample size are presented in Supplementary Information, Table S3.
Characteristics of evidence sources
| Study characteristic . | Count . | % of total (n = 46) . | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of studies included by country of study location | Burkina Faso | 1 | 2 | |||||
| Cameroon | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| Ethiopia | 3 | 7.0 | ||||||
| Ghana | 15 | 35 | ||||||
| Kenya | 4 | 9 | ||||||
| Malawi | 3 | 7 | ||||||
| Nigeria | 6 | 12 | ||||||
| South Africa | 8 | 14 | ||||||
| Sudan | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| Tanzania | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| Uganda | 3 | 7 | ||||||
| Number of studies included by type of food sold | Cooked food | 36 | 78 | |||||
| Raw and cooked fish | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| Raw fish | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| Raw meat (poultry, pork or beef) | 2 | 5 | ||||||
| Raw vegetables | 3 | 7 | ||||||
| Cooked food and raw fruit | 3 | 7 | ||||||
| Number of studies included by study assessment objective and type of food sold | Type of food sold | |||||||
| Raw meat and fish | Raw vegetables and fruit | Cooked food | Total | |||||
| Study assessment topic | n | %a | n | %a | n | % | n | % |
| Infrastructure/services | 3 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 26 | 57 | 31 | 67 |
| Vendor behaviour | 6 | 13 | 3 | 7 | 24 | 52 | 33 | 72 |
| Vendor awareness | 3 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 39 | 22 | 48 |
| Institutional and regulatory environment | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 17 | 10 | 22 |
| Contamination of food | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 13 | 10 | 22 |
| Study characteristic . | Count . | % of total (n = 46) . | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of studies included by country of study location | Burkina Faso | 1 | 2 | |||||
| Cameroon | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| Ethiopia | 3 | 7.0 | ||||||
| Ghana | 15 | 35 | ||||||
| Kenya | 4 | 9 | ||||||
| Malawi | 3 | 7 | ||||||
| Nigeria | 6 | 12 | ||||||
| South Africa | 8 | 14 | ||||||
| Sudan | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| Tanzania | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| Uganda | 3 | 7 | ||||||
| Number of studies included by type of food sold | Cooked food | 36 | 78 | |||||
| Raw and cooked fish | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| Raw fish | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| Raw meat (poultry, pork or beef) | 2 | 5 | ||||||
| Raw vegetables | 3 | 7 | ||||||
| Cooked food and raw fruit | 3 | 7 | ||||||
| Number of studies included by study assessment objective and type of food sold | Type of food sold | |||||||
| Raw meat and fish | Raw vegetables and fruit | Cooked food | Total | |||||
| Study assessment topic | n | %a | n | %a | n | % | n | % |
| Infrastructure/services | 3 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 26 | 57 | 31 | 67 |
| Vendor behaviour | 6 | 13 | 3 | 7 | 24 | 52 | 33 | 72 |
| Vendor awareness | 3 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 39 | 22 | 48 |
| Institutional and regulatory environment | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 17 | 10 | 22 |
| Contamination of food | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 13 | 10 | 22 |
aPercent data are calculated from the total number of studies (N = 46).
Note: Studies with more than one topic of assessment were counted under multiple categories.