Direct Educational Intervention on Halal Compliance and Food Sanitation Among Street Vendors

Abstract

Food safety, hygiene, and religious compliance are essential for public health and safe ready-to-eat consumption. Specific Background: Street vendors operating in public spaces frequently encounter challenging conditions that hinder proper sanitation and halal maintenance. Knowledge Gap: Although previous studies highlight vendor shortcomings in sanitation and halal practices, empirical data assessing direct, tailored educational interventions for informal food vendors remain limited. Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of direct door-to-door education on the knowledge of street vendors regarding halal awareness and food hygiene and sanitation at Alun-Alun Tigaraksa, Tangerang Regency. Results: Following the educational intervention, the mean knowledge score significantly increased from $95.00 \pm 8.42$ to $99.69 \pm 1.77$ ($t(31) = -3.695, p < 0.001$, Cohen’s $d = 0.65$), with 31 of 32 participating vendors achieving a maximum score. Novelty: This research introduces a practical, time-efficient door-to-door educational framework tailored for busy street vendors in public squares who lack access to formal training. Implications: Direct doorstep education effectively elevates foundational vendor understanding, though future initiatives must incorporate ongoing behavioral observation and longitudinal mentoring to translate knowledge into daily practice.

Highlights:

• Direct door-to-door education successfully raised participants' mean knowledge scores from $95.00$ to $99.69$ ($p < 0.001$).

• All vendors who scored below the maximum baseline improved, and $96.9\%$ achieved perfect scores post-intervention.

• The targeted community outreach produced a medium effect size (Cohen’s $d = 0.65$), significantly narrowing score disparities across the group.

Keywords : halal awareness; food hygiene and sanitation; street vendors; community service; educational intervention