While you were recovering from the “aftershocks” of the Maggi incident, there’s another shock in store – street foods are not really as safe as you might have thought. Starting from your favorite golgappas to momos to tikkis to samosas – and the rest of the mouth-watering delights – all contain high levels of coliform bacteria (derived from water contaminated with faecal matter), as per a recent study conducted by the Institute of Hotel Management, Catering and Nutrition, Pusa, New Delhi. The study reveals that while the normal Most Probable Number (MPN) of coliform bacteria should be 50 or less as per the Central Pollution Control Board, it was found to be over 2,400 in the samples of street food tested. This has set off the alarm bells. The authorities have initiated steps to penalize all offending street food vendors. But there is also a need to look at the dynamics of the contamination process, which has been examined in this article. The major factors that lead to street food contamination are briefly highlighted below.
The proximity of food vending stalls to open drains
The location of the food vending stalls near open drains is an important factor in the contamination process. The food vendors prefer to locate their stalls at inconspicuous places where the police fail to notice them. These are often near open drains or nullas, sometimes even near garbage dumps. These are filthy and unhygienic places, where there are flies, mosquitoes and other insects that can contaminate the food. Another reason why these vendors prefer setting up their business in close proximity to open drains and garbage dumps could be the ease of disposal of their garbage.
Failure to comply with FSSAI regulations
Street food vendors are regarded as food business operators (FBOs) as per the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (FSS Act). This implies that all street food vendors need to register under the FSS Act, 2006 in order to operate their businesses legally. Under the law, those food businesses having an annual turnover below Rs. 12 lakhs need to be registered, while those having a turnover of more than Rs. 12 lacs need a license. However, all these food establishments, which do brisk business year round, and many of them often earn as high as Rs. 10,000/- per day, flout the law. Flouting the law naturally means that standards in food safety and food hygiene are not maintained, leading to contamination. The street food vendors are required to follow the guidelines defined under Schedule 4 (Part – I) of FSS (Licensing & Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011.
Lack of clean water supplies
Lack of clean potable water for drinking purposes, let alone clean water for washing utensils is very often a scarcity. Utensils are often left unwashed, and when washed, filthy contaminated water is usually the norm. This is another source of contamination. Anecdotal evidence also exists of street vendors using drain water to wash their utensils! There have also been reports of using contaminated water for making the “paani” for the panipuris or golgappas. The street food vendors very often do not put in the extra effort to obtain clean water for their food business.
Lack of knowledge about food hygiene
These street vendors do not have the slightest knowledge about food hygiene. All their cooking is done in the open, at the roadside, where dust, pollutants, flies etc. can contaminate the food. Moreover, the manner in which the cooking is carried out and the food is displayed and served is equally unhygienic. Storing unsold food unrefrigerated appears to be the norm and reheating at unspecified temperatures before serving again the next day indicates their lack of knowledge of basic food microbiology. Importantly, these FBOs should have some basic concept of microbes and how they can contaminate food and thereby cause disease. Importantly, the FSSAI has fixed maximal limits for various types of microbes that can contaminate meat (including cooked meat) used in preparing street food such as non-veg rolls, non-veg momos etc. (Table 1).
Table 1: Maximum limits of microbes in cooked meat products
Parameter/Microbe | Maximum limit (cfu) |
Total plate count | 104/g |
Yeast and mold count | 100/g |
E. coli | 100/g |
Staphylococcus aureus (Coagulase +) | 100/g |
Salmonella spp. | Absent/25g |
Listeria monocytogenes | Absent/25g |
Clostridium perfringes | 100/g |
Campylobacter spp. | Absent/g |
Lack of knowledge about personal hygiene
Personal hygiene is another area which is usually totally neglected. Smoking, coughing, spitting, sneezing, touching nose, keeping long nails, unwashed hands etc. while preparing food are not even perceived by these street food vendors as being unhygienic, and therefore detrimental to their food business.
The way forward
Many of the problems and complications that have been discussed above, largely stem from the ignorance or lack of education about food hygiene on the part of the food vendors. These street vendors are not aware of the fact that their actions (or inactions) can lead to the serious ill health of their customers. Therefore, there is a greater need for imparting training to these street vendors about basic food hygiene and food handling practices, as well as basic sanitation. The FSSAI and other organizations have already taken steps in this direction, which is highly commendable. However, there is a need for concerted and sustained effort in this direction. On the part of the law enforcers, it is important that food sampling is carried out at regular intervals, so the basic microbiological parameters are adhered to, and appropriate punishment meted out to all defaulters.
Stringent penalties and punishments should be in place against erring street food vendors in order to enforce the law. In a nutshell, these street food vendors must be made more accountable and responsible for serving good quality hygienic food to their customers, or otherwise face the legal consequences.
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