ADSactly Awareness - Street Sold Food Might Be Harming You

in #food7 years ago

Street Sold Food Might Be Harming You


A lot of times we are too busy, or are in a hurry to leave our homes, so we opt for food or meals sold on the street. Sometimes, we may be travelling to another town with a different culture, and we are attracted by the nice aroma of enticing street food. I know this happens a lot in Nigeria and in some other countries. Sometimes, the sold food may not be home-made meals, it could be locally made snacks. Some people like to patronize certain vendors for native meals and snacks however, we overlook a lot of possibilities while doing this.



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It is sad enough that some packaged and industry-processed meals and food substances can harm us but do we realize that some street vended foods can harm us?

It is possible that some of us can vouch for certain restaurants, some of us are certain about their hygiene. We may even know some of these vendors personally. We may have been eating from some vendors for years but, have we considered the location at which the vendor is selling the food, and its poor handling which can lead to transfer of pathogens(microbes) from the vendor or others around or from the environment into the food?

Have we thought about the fact that water, vegetable,and spice used in preparing food such can easily be contaminated? What about chemicals from detergents or liquid wash used to clean utensils and equipment? Have you ever seen when a vendor is in a hurry to sell food? Everything has to be done fast. Did you know that chemical or physical contaminants can enter into the food,and microbial contamination from water,cloth and food handler can occur?



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What about when food is hawked, improper storage,and temperatures of food during hawking might lead to heat-stable enterotoxins produced by pathogens.

This is not to scare anyone.This is just an awareness concerning some of the dangers of street sold food. We are prone to food borne diseases such as food poisoning, diarrhea, cholera,and typhoid fever if we constantly consume food prepared on the street. My brother was rushed to the hospital, one midnight, after he had consumed locally made food from a street vendor during the day. He had terrible stomach pain and was placed on admission in the hospital.

HOW STREET FOOD GET CONTAMINATED

WATER

In China,street food caused 691 food poisoning outbreaks and 49 deathsfor years in Shangdong Province (China)

Water is one of the most important raw materials in many street food, therefore if a vendor uses contaminated water, this can create a health risk to the public. Often,the hygiene of water used by vendors can not be fully ascertained, yet it is used for drinking,as an ingredient,for processing food,or for washing hands,food,equipment and utensils.

Image result for water for cooking pixabay picture Africa

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In Nigeria, more than 200,000 are suspected to die each year and about 120,400 deaths of Nigerian children under the age of five occurred in 2008, due to diarrhea and related diseases. Street sold food are riddled with problems and contaminants.

WASTE

Few vendors know how to manage their waste, hence, the contamination of street foods is often linked to the waste generated by food processing, that is usually dumped near the vending site.

Sometimes vendors throw their wastes-especially liquid wastes into drainages nearby, thereby building homes and habitats for rodents and microorganisms.

A study carried out in Africa showed that a lot of food sellers prepared food like fish, fruit salads, roasted maize and chips in unhygienic conditions, given that garbage and dirty waste were close to the stalls.

Image result for refuse waste dump used for street vended foods in Nigeria 2018

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Also in India some years ago, a fruit vendor's fruit juice on the street was examined and lots of bacteria was found in it. We can go on to say we use anti-biotics and our immune systems are strong but for how long?

MORE CHEMICAL CONTAMINANTS THAT MAY BE PRESENT IN STREET VENDED FOOD

PAHs

PAHs are Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons.They are chemical compounds containing hydrogen and carbons and they can be found in food sold on the streets, especially smoked food substances and tobacco.

Most PAHs are insoluble in water, however, human exposure varies across the globe and depends on factors such as smoking rates, fuel types in cooking, pollution controls on industrial processes, and vehicles.

Smoke generated from fuels like wood is a large source of PAHs.The burning of coal and biofuels for cooking and heating is a dominant global source of PAH emissions as well, but unfortunately this is one of the cheapest sources of fuel for cooking in developing countries.

Image result for smoke grilled street  foods in Nigeria 2018

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In industrial countries, people who smoke tobacco products or consume food substances particularly smoked or grilled meat are exposed to PAHs. PAHs may also be deposited on plant food, especially broad-leafed vegetables, during growth,hence the need for good hygiene when cooking vegetables bought from the street. Emissions from vehicles such as cars and trucks can be a substantial outdoor source of PAHs in the air as well.
PAHs in the body system in large doses have been linked to cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

According to research,people living in Europe, the United States, and China have linked exposure to PAHs, to air pollution or parental occupational exposure, with poor fetal growth, reduced immune function, and poorer development, including lower IQ (source).

PESTICIDE RESIDUES

Pesticides, chemicals and insecticides which are usually used in the atmosphere can form harmful residues on food substances hawked or sold on the streets. Since most street food are ready to eat and fast, we are quick to consume.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

We can keep up with this awareness, creating more awareness for street vendors and consumers. Our governments must be involved in ensuring the safety of sold and consumed street food.

If you know any vendors around you, encourage them to improve their hygiene and learn more about food safety acts and policies.

In the majority of developing countries,where street food safety policies do not either exist or are poorly enforced,food safety experts or health officials can take up the challenge.

As individuals, we can decide to reduce or abstain from street vended food. We must also become more hygienic with our food preparations too. Remember, it is important to always eat safe.

Authored by @ponmile

REFRENCES
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street food will probably kill you, so stop eating street food

Right @kurosawa It's true :)

My cousin loved street food, few months ago. He had a vomiting, nausea and fever. Doctor test his blood sample and observe a bacterial infection due to unhygienic food.

That sucks. In my opinion it’s a risk worth taking but a bad bug can really mess up a vacation. I’ve eaten a ton of street food traveling and the only time I’ve gotten sick on vacation was in an actual restaurant.

Worth the risk - street food makes people smile together - Street Food is social experience together - sadly you fly solo if you get ill 🤣

Thanks for sharing your cousin's experience

Hi - Great & informative post. I have returned from travels around India and I must say I love food and street vendor -

Its a tricky one as for many people street food in India is a way of survival from people's livelihood and people's only nourishment. For a beggar to receive a fresh samosa from a vendor is a blessing. Of course hygiene is something key here and I also got very sick one day but as https://steemit.com/@travelersmemoire says when I ate in a street restaurant.

India is trying hard to try to implement hygiene and clean spaces with rubbish collections daily , more public lavorities but this will take time.

I agree if we know an establishment near us we can encourage them. For example explaining that using a dirty cloth to clean tables is one of the worst carriers of bacteria - this can be an easy education to suggest and a very simple fix - I believe dirty cloth cleaning tables was probably the cause of my illness in the cafe. I never once got sick eating with locals on the street.

A good thing to eat is fresh coconut - natural :) taken 3 weeks ago on my last trip to India

IMG_4318.JPG

Love Food - Love Steemit - Love Travels
Have a great day all
Sonic Sonny 💁🏻

If the hygiene is fixed and certain..you are good to go.. The reason street foods can not be trusted is the hygiene and ingredients.. If you are certain about both..you can keep consuming from your vendor..

There's no doubt that a lot of street foods are delicious - even more delicious than what's sold in restaurants. Also, street foods are cheap! So who doesn't like cheap, delicious food? 😆

But as consumers, we should use our senses to determine if the street food is worth the try. Look at where the cart's situated, the placement of foods and their condiments (if there are any), where the foods are placed, and their permit (usually hanged on the stall's roof or posted on a surface). Also, you can usually tell something's wrong on the first bite! So stop chewing and look at what you're eating.

Also, nowadays, health inspectors are more stern on imposing proper food prep and hygiene, so I guess we should trust on that. 😉

Sorry I just got a lot to say about this matter. I just love street food so much! But I always eat with precaution.

So, after what's said and done, and you decide to eat, just tell yourself: "BACTERIA'S STRONG, BUT I AM STRONGER."🤣

👍 Agreed

I love street food too! I don't eat much of it since there's not much here in the US. But in Hong Kong and China..wow! Getting to sample the local cuisine...so tasty and cheap!

Be careful...choosing tasty over healthy may not be the best decision. You can reduce it ..if you can not stop totally..

Many street food vendors seem to go long periods of time without washing their hands, cooking utensils, or plates.

The simple fact of the matter is that street food is being prepared in a generally uncontrolled and unhygienic environment. Cases of food poisoning rise during the heat, humidity, and standing water contribute to foster the growth of a number of nasty organisms and insect swarms. Meats and even vegetables and other ingredients which are sitting outside and unprotected for long periods of time can become contaminated.

There’s also the matter of where your food or its preparatory materials came from. How old is the chicken meat that’s going into your momos? Was the kebab you ate sitting around in a truck or warehouse all day, or was it sliced from a chicken slaughtered in the morning? You never know, unless you’re very familiar with the venue you’ve chosen.

Another big area of concern is water. It might taste amazing, but the water could have come from an unfiltered tap. Perhaps you’ll be keeling over on the toilet the next day.

Good addition...thanks

in my experience you are far more likely to get sick eating in a restaurant - esp. if bigger. They store food for longer and if experience a power failure then freezers warm up. Big hotel buffets are notorious for getting poep,sicl . Again poor storage. Fresh street food for me any time of the day.

Street Foods is un healthy in many ways, in fact, sometimes its a threat to one's health. With due respect to our fellow street food vendor but I am simply telling the truth that their engridients esp the oil were repeatedly used all throughout the week or sometimes even months and this is very cancerous. The microbial count present to the food is too much since it is expose to every insects on the street plus the smoke coming from the vehicles and etc.

It is better to cook food at home, it is far more healthy and safe.

My aunt who used to live in China came across a street vendor selling these pancakes for really cheap. She couldn't pass on such a deal and bought some. Turns out the reason it was so cheap was because the oil they used to cook with was actually recycled sewage oil. Disgusting. Eat at your own risk.

yes be very careful of street food and think high quality and look at the stuff for freshness

The only way to be truly safe is to prepare and cook your own homegrown fruits, vegetables, and livestock. So move to the country and get some land.

Amen to that!

Thank you for your blog @adsactly. It's a health awareness for everyone who are fond of eating street foods. It doesn't give us benefit to our heath but a destruction. I have an experience with that since my niece was sometime hospitalized due to typhoid fever bec of eating too much bbq at the street that was not cook properlyproperly. A reminder to all parents to give their children awareness about this matter.

@adsactly, great and valid points you have made.

While it might not be possible to eliminate the possibility of eating out totally, i think its best to consider some factors you have highlighted before taking to eating at a particular restaurant although compromise on personal hygiene can't be completely ruled out and with time, we can reduce to the barest minimum the issue of eating out.

Thank You

Yes, it is a gradual process..we can reduce until we can stop..

Like the Chinese saying, "Most diseases start from the mouth." You take a risk when you eat out, especially street food stalls. Everyone should be taking care of themselves to be healthy, but when in Rome...

Thanks for spreading the awareness. This article made me want to barf. I didn't realize the water they use could be so contaminated. I ate at a food truck in Brazil once and got very sick. I think you're point that everything is made fast and doesn't have time to be cleaned. Definitely some health inspections and regulations need to be implemented on these food trucks.

Great addition...thanks for sharing your experience

I believe it depends a lot on how the person is cooking the food.

If we know that the person is cooking food correctly, the raw materials are not infected or rotten; then I believe it is safe to eat.

On the other hand, we can find more unhygienic food in big establishments too.

Who knows what's cooking behind the door! At least we know how it is being cooked in front of us.