Food Hygiene

Hygiene practices among street food vendors:-

Street food suppliers have generally poor food handling practices, and most are operating under unsanitary conditions. Vendors usually use portable booth,food cart or truck to sale food item. The chief characteristic of street food is that street food are reasonably priced and flavoured and easily available . 

Regarding personal hygiene practices of vendors, result showed that 84.0 percent of vendors used clean clothes , 85.5 percent do not use jewelry, 85.5 percent do not cover there hair , 93.1percent used bare hand during food preparation and serving ,100 percent handle money with bare hands while serving food and 91.5 percent do not wash the hands after handling money before serving food again . 6.9 percent of food vendors were observed to breathe /cough, pick the nose and tough the hair while handling food . Food and ingredient may be subjected to cross contamination from unwashed hands. Also take of good personal hygiene practises can predispose food to microbial contamination. Some previous studies have reported that poor personal  hygiene in the street or market and among food handlers poses a considerable risk to public health. 

Things we should notice while taking food

1. Observe the seller   

Observe the person preparing food

• Does he wear food handling gloves? if yes, does he changed them often?

• If no does he wash his hands often?

• Does he follow standards of personal hygiene?

2. Observe the food

Closely observe the food that is being served to other patrons. Does it appear fresh and healthful? Observe the ingredient used by the cook often street food has precooked ingredient to shorten the time required to serve a dish on order.

• Do the precooked ingredient look fresh? Are they stored properly?

• Are there visible pests such as house flies hovering around the food? Is the food cooked throughly and for a good duration before being served?

• Is meet/ seafood kept under refrigeration before use?

• Is purified/ bottle water used in preparation of food? 

• Are the utensil and vessel clean?

3. Look for a food licence 

In India it is illegal to set up a food and beverage establishment without a food licence.By law all indian street food vendors are required to obtain this licence and display it prominently to their establishment. A food licence or certification does not necessarily mean that the street food vendors is religiously following food hygiene practices . However such a certification gives us as a assurance that the vendor is on the record of local government and is accountable for his or her food product.

4. What to avoid

Indian street food is a big part of the local culture certain food item like Vada pav, masala dosa ,bhelpuri are not synonymous with the reason they come from. However in view of ensuring that you consume food that pass the test of hygiene and sanitation we have the below list of things to avoid. The list comprise of food and beverage product that have a higher chance of contamination considering the Indian climate. 

 

• Raw Food:- Raw vegetable and salads. Cooking ensure that food borne pathogens are eliminated uncooked food therefore in a high risk option.

• Tap water:- Tap water in India is not chemical purified and hence need to be avoided unless boiled or purified on premises .

• Fruits:- Avoid pre cut fruits, it is better to consume fruits that can be peeled.

• Unsealed seasoning and garnishes:- Avoid tomato ketchup and other sauces that are kept on the table as you cannot a certain it's expiry or how it was used by previous customer.

• Pre fried snacks:- Deep fried snacks such as Vada ,bonda and samosa should be made freshly on the premises otherwise it is impossible to visible ascertain the date of production of pre fried snacks.

Hygiene and sanitation should take the highest importance before you eat something. Everyone should follow the above process to eat healthy food as well as you keep his her health food.

Conclusion

Food is one of the basic necessity of human. Therefore there should not be such problem that can cause serious health issue to protect consumer rights . Street food vendors training should be prioritised to improve the safety of street food . Other policies and measure should also be propagated to improve the food safety knowledge, attitude and behaviour of vendors. Food safety and food hygiene are important as they ensure that the food you handle and produce is safe for consumption. If food safety and hygiene are not maintain consumer could become serious ill with food poisoning and foodborne illness. Steps should be taken to improve street food stall operating condition and facility, including providing clean protected structure access to portable water and efficient waste collection and disposal system. This finding should encourage government agency to further promote studies to improve street food safety.