Maggi is off the shelves and more packed fast foods have been ‘called in’ for testing. However, city doctors say the government should also look at street food that can potentially cause “immediate and greater harm”.
Here is a sample: Starting from golgappas to momos to tikkis to samosas – and other mouth-watering delights – all contain high levels of coliform bacteria (that comes from water contaminated with faecal matter), as per a recent study conducted by the Institute of Hotel Management, Catering and Nutrition, Pusa, Delhi.
The study says 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 that were tested.
“This set off alarm bells. The authorities concerned have initiated steps to penalise all offending street food vendors,” said Dr. Saurabh Arora, the founder ofwww.foodsafetyhelpline.com
Dr. Anil Bansal, an official with the Delhi Medical Association, said that street food gets contaminated due the “proximity of food stalls to open drains, garbage piles, roads and even uncovered dustbins. Added to this is the fact that most of them do not have access to clean drinking water or storage space, which accelerates the contamination rate.”
Dr. Bansal added that there is an urgent need to check the quality of street food available in the city.
“Not just packed food, even street food needs to undergo quality control,” he said. Street food vendors are considered food business operators (FBOs) as per the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. This implies that all such vendors need to register under the said Act in order to operate their businesses legally. Under the law, food businesses with an annual turnover below Rs. 12 lakh need to be registered, while those with a turnover of more than Rs. 12 lakh need a licence.
“Many of these food establishments that see brisk business across the year, some of which often earn as much as Rs. 10,000 per day, flout the law. This means that standards in food safety and hygiene are not maintained,” said Dr. Arora.
