**5. Conclusions and recommendations**

While vendors are at the forefront of milk sales in informal markets, the informal market environment seemed not to be the only source where food can get contaminated as is always perceived. Results show that some milk got contaminated during milking, cooling, pooling, processing, packaging, handling and cleaning of milking utensils which means that other stakeholders who handled the product were also responsible for milk contamination but were not held accountable for supplying a product that is "unsafe" as perceived by the authorities. Ensuring food safety along the chain therefore becomes the responsibility of everyone who has a role to play. The fact that a high number of incidents of foodborne illnesses is recorded in informal economies is also enough evidence to warrant the implementation of food safety practices in informal economies but a correct approach and strategies need to be adopted. Compliance of relevant actors with food safety principles should therefore be encouraged.
