Street vendors-Sensitization and training, need of the hour

Street foods seem to be having a fascination for many consumers, though the products made under none too satisfactory conditions, may have potential health dangers at least for some of them with "weak bellies". Whether we like it or not street foods are here to stay and government may be right in closing its eyes towards the existence of such a flourishing businesses activitiy under its very nose across the country. From time to time seminars and workshops are held to "focus" on the problems and dangers of street foods and "recommendations" are made to improve the safety of foods catered by these vendors. There are even international programs to address the problems of street vending as it is a phenomenon common in many countries, especially in Asia. Why is that consumers are attracted to street foods like a magnet, ignoring the possible dangers lurking behind them? The answer is simple, the unique culinary pleasure experienced by them while eating these freshly made and hot foods made in front of them by artisans who excel in creating unique taste and flavor characteristic of many traditional Indian preparations, most of them being not available in regular restaurants. Besides this sector provides gainful earning opportunities to millions of self employed people to eke out a decent living. It is in this context we have to understand the compulsions governments world over have to nurture this sector without seriously impinging on the civic amenities that could be affected by their operations in the pavements meant to be for pedestrianwalking in crowded urban areas.

"With an aim to train street food vendors on cleanliness and hygiene, the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) recently organized a workshop in the city. Their training also included various aspects of food preservation techniques. "We were already aware of the cleanliness aspect, but NASVI taught us how to present any food in the right way," said Shyam Sundar, one of the street food vendors. NAVI also distributed I-cards among the registered street food vendors. The workshop was part of the National Street Food Festival that concluded on December 28.When asked what they benefitted from this workshop, the vendors said it helped them increase their profits. "Now, when customers see us wearing gloves and aprons, they believe we serve better quality food than others," said Satish, owner of Satish Snacks in Sarojini Nagar. Gulab Singh, a bhelpuri vendor at India Gate, said though he had gone to Singapore to train the staff of a hotel on bhelpuri making, he was unaware about the tricks of the trades till NASVI taught him. The vendors who are registered with the organization will receive a certificate. They will receive licences once they are found conforming to the cleanliness norm laid down by the civic body. Then they will be allowed to put up their stalls at various places in the city.  Meanwhile, 'Street Saathi', a food book, was launched during the festival, which features all the vendors trained by NASVI. It contains pictures and recipes of various food items. The best part of the book is that it not only tells people about various street food and their preparations, but also sheds light on the lives of the vendors". 

The workshop may be relevant in the context of wide scale misgivings about the safety of these foods and the clientele now enjoying the services of these vendors must be minimum with only adventurous customers patronizing them regularly. If such workshops are held in all the towns and cities in the country more frequently, the quality and safety of the foods made by them will naturally get upgraded in the long term. Civic authorities have a great responsibility in regulating these vendors as they can pose a serious congestion problem with pedestrian and vehicular traffic affected adversely. A master plan for regulating them must be drawn and minimum facilities required by them to ensure food safety must be provided. Strict overseeing of their activities is also necessary. Use of potable water, cleaning of reusable plates and cups and cookwares and waste disposal logistics must be monitored regularly. Recent advent of mobile food vans presents another opportunity for urban dining and snacking and it is time that serious planning is done at the local authorities level to standardize their activities and fixing places where they can park for serving foods. Food Processing Industry Ministry and the Tourism Ministry at Delhi can play a vital role in helping the state governments by designing suitable models of mobile vans with required facilities and laying down national guidelines for their efficient functioning.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

A park for street foods? Odissa steals the show!

Whoever has thought of the latest "street food park" concept, being planned in Orissa deserves full marks for addressing an issue that poses multidimensional challenges to the civic authorities all across the country ever since India became an independent country. If reports are to be believed the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) in Orissa is "set" to launch such a park in the city within a month by providing some minimum infrastructure to enable street vendors to serve safe foods to the citizens there without affecting the pedestrian cross walks or the traffic nearby. CMC is also promising to provide necessary facilities like potable water supply, adequate cleaning water, lighting, toilet rooms and waste disposal system. It was not long ago that this Blogger suggested in one of the blogs about setting up a series of food plazas in almost all cities in the country away from busy thoroughfares within the city with suitable infrastructure so that city centers are not cluttered unnecessarily, adversely affecting smooth flow of both vehicular as well as the pedestrian traffic. Unfortunately such constructive suggestions never reach the ears of our politicians who have their own agenda and -priorities when it comes to spending public funds. There fore the developments in Cuttack should gladden the hearts of many progressive people in the country. Here is a take on this new development happening in one of the backward states of the country. . 

"The civic body has decided to set up the exclusive food park on Baliyatra ground, adjacent to the Mahanadi river bed, where food lovers can enjoy delicious and mouth-watering delicacies of the Millennium City such as dahibara, aludum and gupchup without being worried about falling ill.  The infrastructure of the street food park will be set up at a cost of Rs 10 lakh. Besides lighting arrangements, the CMC will ensure supply of safe drinking water to the park and some beautification work of the area. Toilet facilities and a garbage disposal system will also be put in place. The civic body officials said licences would be issued to the street food vendors to do business in the park and food inspectors will regularly monitor the quality of food. "We will start work on the street food park project within a month. The ground is used only during Baliyatra so we can easily accommodate the street food hawkers on it by creating the necessary infrastructure," said Gyana Ranjan Das, CMC commissioner.  Das said the food park would be made to look attractive to ensure footfall of food lovers and tourists. "Ensuring hygiene and cleanliness at the food park will be our priority," said a senior CMC officer". 

While appreciating such new initiatives especially in the government sector, one has to bear with some skepticism regarding the practicalities of such a revolutionary proposal. For example the place identified for setting up the Park is already being used by some sections of society for different activities and whether the new proposal will elicit protests from them remains to be seen. Similarly providing food inspection arrangement by frequent visits by the food vigilance officers is indeed a good thought, though how far in practice such inspections and action against defaulters will happen is uncertain. In stead it will be more effective if at least one dedicated food inspection officer is posted permanently to look after the quality and safety of products as well as the services offered by the participating vendors. Licensing must be hassle free and affordable to the micro entrepreneurs who come forward to invest in the Park. In stead of initiating legal proceedings against defaulters, it is worth trying for settling quality complaints within the park premises amicably through a committee system represented by the vendors and the CMC officers. Training program included in the plan is commendable as most violations take place out of ignorance and persuasive efforts can bring rich dividends.All said and done, here is a model being attempted in Cuttack and if successful deserves to be replicated throughout the country. .  

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

ANOTHER BLAH BLAH ABOUT STREET FOODS-NEW DECLARATION BY FSSAI!

What are the chances of one getting sick after consuming foods from vendors who serve their "mouth watering" products under the open air without worrying too much about hygiene and sanitation or the likely chance of the same to be vitiated by hundreds of smoke emitting automotive vehicles passing in front of them? Obviously there does not appear to be any major food poisoning episodes in India during the last three decades putting to rest the speculation in this regard by the western educated food scientists based on their perception of science! Could this be due to the extraordinarily tough stomachs Indians possess or is there any other strong reason? Probably these vendors are not as irresponsible as being made out by "scientific" surveys undertaken from time to time by scientists! One of the major reasons could be that most foods offered are cooked on the spot and served hot leaving very little chance of contamination from pathogenic microbes. Those which are not served hot are either sour tasting or salt laden or laced with sour curds that, here also there is very little chance of the customers getting sick. Against this background the recent proposal from Delhi to initiate a "certifying" scheme for these small players, purveyors of tasty local foods, may be somewhat out of place and it will likely to end up as an harassment tool that might be deployed by petty officials to extract extortion from them. Here is a take on this new "awakening" in Delhi about the safety of street foods, after doing nothing for ages!  

"Vendors wearing gloves while serving up plates of pani puri or donning a chef's hat while stirring spicy bhel may soon be a regular sighting to Mumbai's street food culture. Street food is set to become certifiably safer with the central government kicking off their Safe Street Food project across fifteen cities in India including Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmadabad, Kolkata, Patna, Lucknow, Varanasi, Dehradun, Bhubaneshwar, Agartala, Jammu, Trivandrum and Chennai. The project will take off in November this year. Food Safety and Standard Authority of India's (FSSAI) that launched the Safe Street Food project plans to use officials from the state Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) to narrow down food stalls at Juhu and Girgaon Chowpatty as a part of the pilot project. Prior to the implementation, a detailed project report has been sought by FSSAI from all states. FDA officials are currently seeking information on 80 food stalls in Juhu and 28 stall in Girgaon about their working practices. "We are closely studying the cooks to see if they maintain hygiene while cooking. We are also observing how they store food and dispose garbage," said Kamlesh Sankhe, joint commissioner (food), FDA. Apart from training the street vendors on handling preparation, storage and presentation of food, the central government has instructed the state and BMC to develop an infrastructure at street food hotspots to make them more tourist-friendly. "We have repeatedly requested the civic and state authorities to provide sheds as protection from the rain and winds. Toilet facilities, waste disposal and drainage facilities should be provided as well," said Atul Gupta, treasurer, Girgaon Bhelpuri Khadya Peey Vikreta Industrial Products Co-operative Society Limited".

The response from the organization that represents street vendors is logical and correct. In stead of a window dressing approach, what the government must do is to relocate these vendors to food complexes with complimentary facilities like safe water supply, access to clean toilet and clean environment. Every city in this country should have a few such infrastructure set ups immediately for shifting the existing vendors and establishing new players with minimum hassles. The street food lovers in this country, millions in number will owe a debt of gratitude to the government, if it thinks in this direction. Of course in a country where every exercise by the government has more publicity value than substance, it may be too much to expect such progressive measures to be implemented in the foreseeable future! 

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

CARE FOR CONSUMERS OR PERISH! CATERING SECTOR BEWARE!

What lies ahead for the catering sector in India? Though scanty reports on the present status of this sector do indicate a booming business, this trend need not last for long if one goes by the experience of this sector in other countries. Having higher income in hand may drive customers in hordes to restaurants but such a situation also raises aspirational goals, shifts the goal posts and induces frustration among the patrons. In India one of the sectors of business that is doing extremely well is catering business and the margin of profit is growing exponentially with steep increase in prices of their offerings, forcing some of the lower middle income group of population to shy away from "eating out" option more and more, though it might not have affected others with unlimited disposable income at their disposal. The trend being foreseen in the US may not be too relevant to India but still it is a pointer to the likely happenings in the coming days for which Indian catering sector must be prepared if not to day but in the not too distant a future.

"Agents can head off this scenario and build a strong consultative relationship with their restaurant customers by asking key questions at renewal time. Here are some of the trends that could put restaurants at risk and the questions agents should ask their restaurant customers :
    1. Mobility. Has the restaurant added new services, such as delivery of meals using hired drivers with their own cars?
    2. Branch out businesses. Has the restaurant started a new line of business, such as catering?
    3. Trendy foods. Has the restaurant introduced new menu offerings as part of the strategy for attracting more customers, such as locally sourced foods, an emphasis on organic ingredients or assurances about non-allergenic ingredients?
    4. Additional payment methods. Is the restaurant accepting new methods of payment, such as online credit charges or smartphone purchasing?
Armed with the answers to these kinds of questions, you can offer your customers a menu of options that go beyond the coverage required for an on-site restaurant operation. Insurance carriers with experience in the food services industry can work closely with you to make sure your customers have the right "ingredients" in their policies."

Discussing about the prices customers have to pay at an ordinary restaurant which have practically doubled in the last three years in the name of inflation, it should not be forgotten that there is a "Lakshman Rekha" or a point of no return as far as the customers are concerned. Probably catering sector is under an illusion that all people in the country have plenty of money to squander like the young IT professionals or the much pampered government employees, corrupt as well as honest. India is still an affordable country where it is possible to get a full and decent meal in a functional restaurant at a price less than Rs 20 while most restaurants have hiked up the same to Rs 50 and beyond. Any restaurant in a city with tolerable hygiene and minimum ambiance will cost a family of four at least Rs 250 but imagine how many families can afford this if such restaurants are to be visited at least once in a week! Restaurant associations must ponder over this fact and unless there is a genuine attempt to rationalize prices they may have to face the wrath of the people in the form of reduced patronage and infrequent visits to their establishments. One of the reasons for the street vendors to become darlings of the people and make them reputed landmarks in may towns and cities in India and for the steep popularity of the Food Truck phenomenon in the US is precisely the fact that the organized restaurants are pricing themselves out of the minds of common man! Beware of this trend!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

STREET FOODS BECOMING GLAMOROUS?-GOOD FOR INDIAN CONSUMER!

Street vending, confined hitherto to small scale players with low expectations, seems to be graduating into technology and fashion driven activity world over. The Food Truck movement that is increasingly becoming popular in the United States has attracted big name Chefs who provide the required brand push to attract many customers and practically every city in this country is trying to cope up with the pace of growth of this sector through evolving the necessary control frame work to ensure safety of the fares offered by them. With modern communication technology like Tweeting these food truck entrepreneurs are able to make the business highly profitable. As these mobile vendors have ultra modern vehicles equipped with state of the art cooking facilities and procure practically every thing locally customers seem to have developed great confidence on the foods offered by them. In contrast road side catering still remains an archaic piece of institution of yesteryears with modernity hardly touching any face of its operations. Sporadic attempts to bring in reforms to benefit both the vendors as well as the customers do not seem to have created any impact on their working. It is in this context one has to see the recent developments in the country when educated entrepreneurs are entering mobile catering business with lot of ideas and innovative ability. The latest report reveals the interest shown by the graduates in fashion design entering the mobile catering business which bodes well for the sector.

"The roadside eatery has gone chic, smashing the stereotype of the quintessential dhaba and its hygiene concerns. And the entrepreneurs manning these mobile food outlets are no traditional businessmen. Some have designed clothes for hot shot models while others have trained in complex computer circuits. And suddenly, they decided to sell food and change the concept of roadside gourmet in the city. The enterprising bunch is led by a NIFT graduate who passed out in 2010. He launched the mobile food outlet Aahar Rath. It's actually a vendor handcart designed like a vintage car that sells authentic food like litti chokha, dal baati, dal pitthi, lassi, chhach and sherbet. All at affordable prices. A glass of packaged water co'mes free with a plate. Suraj Kumar, 24, who spearheads the venture is a graduate in fashion illustration from NIFT and also a guest lecturer at the institute. His two key aides - Rohit, an engineer in electronics from IP University and Ranjeet, an NIFT graduate. They are also employed with two reputed firms. Some employees are also pursuing courses at NIFT. One of them is Ashish Mehta from Suraj's home district in Bihar. He is a first-year student in leather designing. Mehta spends a few hours at the first stall near V3S mall on Vikas Marg and takes home Rs 2,500 a month. "I am studying and earning as well. I don't need monetary support from my family and I am enjoying the work. The food is hygienic and we ensure quality," he says. Suraj says this idea struck after he struggled to get good food at affordable price during his student days. "We selected the menu to promote authentic Indian food. Presently, the popular street-food is Chinese cuisine. We are forgetting our traditional food items. We are working on the menu and will introduce new items in other localities like Mukherjee Nagar where we plan to open outlets," says Suraj. On why he launched a street-food vend, despite graduating in fashion designing, Suraj said "most of my friends have taken to textile designing, but I preferred to enter a new world". The concept of fashion designing does not end with clothes and textile. "I have used my training to design the cart. And believe me, it's innovative. This was a stretch where nobody would even stop and even look. Now, people are flocking to our outlet to eat," the young entrepreneur says. Suraj's friend, Rohit, who works with a reputed cellphone manufacturer is upbeat on the viability of the venture. He provides support with design and concept promotion. He said, "We will expand to other areas of the city. We have moved an application for promoting this idea under the Promotion of Street Food Scheme of the central government," said Rohit.

While a good design vehicle which looks attractive will definitely be an asset, ultimately the quality of fare offered, their authenticity, safety aspects and cost will be the determining factors for success. After all one has to realize that customers are attracted to mobile eateries not for ambiance but for the quality of foods served and therefore it remains to be seen how far new designs or appearances will influence the customer attitude when fashion designers start using their expertise to bring out new mobile eateries to the street. A more appropriate alternative would be joint ventures between catering graduates and fashion designers ensuring mutual benefit, besides providing exciting fares to the customers. Probably this idea may catch up sooner or later and millions of patrons, who feast on street vending foods, will stand to benefit. In the mean time Singapore has been singularly successful in transforming the street vending scenario into a more orderly and organized business according highest priority to customer safety under their Hawker Center scheme almost 35 years ago! With almost all urban roads literally cluttered and choked, how can mobile catering business similar to food trucks can be a viable proposition in India? A more feasible alternative will definitely be setting up of a number of Hawker Centers in all cities in proportion to the population living there and move the vendors into these centers eventually.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

ROAD SIDE VENDING-INADEQUATE VIGILANCE

Street vending is a phenomenon that is here to stay and almost all countries in the world have some or the other form of open air eating on the sides of many roads in most of the urban areas. The transformation of the street vendor who is a humble and low income entrepreneur into modern business man is remarkable in a country like the US where Food Trucks are taking over the functions of providing open air foods to customers with some loyalty to fresh foods cooked in front of them. Even in the case of modern food trucks there are issues concerning quality and safety of food offered by them though the chances of any epidemic of food poisoning is relatively less. In the traditional road side vending hygiene and sanitation become a casualty because of many reasons which include low awareness and high illiteracy amongst many of these vendors. Unless safety authorities exercise effective vigilance, the unsuspecting customers can become a prey for food borne diseases. The sudden interest by the Mumbai food safety agency in announcing stricter monitoring regime is note worthy but whether this will be translated into practice is a million dollar question!

"In a bid to crack down on unauthorised roadside vendors selling food in unhygienic conditions, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will now form special ward-level squads. These squads will carry out regular surprise visits in their areas to ensure quality of food items. The decision was taken after a pani puri vendor in Thane was caught on camera while urinating in a vessel which he was using to store pani. After the news reports, MNS workers had vandalised food stalls across the city, thereby pressuring the civic body to take immediate measures. Officials had said that a meeting of top health department officials of the BMC was called to chalk out an action plan. Civic officials said instructions regarding the formation of special ward-level squads have been issued. The official also said the quality of the food served by these vendors will now be under scanner. Additional Municipal Commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar said these squads will also keep a check on those vendors having BMC's licences too. On Tuesday itself, surprise visits were conducted in and around the city".

Is it not a wonder that only very few cases of food borne diseases are reported in the country in spite of the sad state of affairs vis-a-vis safety enforcement environment? Could it be that the effect of daily prayers by the God-fearing population is manifested in the form of protection to them from food related disorders? Or does an average Indians possess an extra ordinary GI system that is immune to most food borne infectious vectors prevalent in the country? According to some reports most of those affected by minor symptoms of stomach upset caused by food do not bother about it, managing the same with over the counter anti-bacterial drugs available cheap in the country. One always wonders as to how populations in countries like the US or in Europe suffer from serious food poisoning incidences in spite of the operation of a supposedly modern food industry and most exacting hygiene environment that exists in those countries. Probably an agency like WHO can study this peculiar phenomenon to unravel the mystery!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

"SAFE FOOD" TOWNS-ANOTHER ILL-CONCEIVED "SCHEME"?

Government agencies have a knack in recycling old schemes as new from time to time and here is an example of such approach which was announced by the minister for food processing recently in Rajya Sabha! Street vending of foods is a phenomenon that is common in many developing countries and there is hardly a place in India where street vending is not visible. As early as 2 decades ago efforts were made to make foods offered by the street vendors safe through training and improved infrastructure that would improve the hygiene and sanitation significantly. How ever these efforts were far and few in some places with no national foot print. Unhygienic foods continue to be served and gullible public continue to patronize these road side vending outlets with no sense of fear or reservation. Repeated pleas to create specialized food courts in all towns, especially in tourist places, for small scale food vendors have fallen on deaf ears and the present announcement about "safe food towns" or upgrading street foods will have to be taken with a pinch of salt. The grand declaration does not carry conviction because there is no raod map for achieving the desired result.

"Minister of Food Processing Industries Subodh Kant Sahai has said that his Ministry has mooted a scheme for "Upgradation of Quality of Street Food" for implementation of the 11th Plan period. Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha recently, he said the scheme is yet to be approved by the Ministry of Finance for implementation on a pilot basis in 11 cities in the Safe Food Town component and 6 cities in the Food-Street Component. He said the outcome of these pilot projects would help the Ministry in implementation of the scheme more effectively in the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17). Mr Sahai said initial preparatory work had been initiated in 2008-09 for "Safe Food Town" component of the Scheme in 11 cities - Ranchi, Nagpur, Kochi, Ludhiana, Jaipur, Agra, Guwahati, Agartala, Shillong, Panaji and Surat and for "Food-Street" component in Tirupati, Hyderabad, Amritsar, Varanasi, Udaipur and Guwahati".

It was only recently that Chandigarh had the mortification to see its food court, first in the country, becoming a center for undesirable activities, especially during late hours because of gross negligence and mismanagement. The concept of a food court with good common facilities and impeccable hygienic environment is considered excellent because such facilities can ensure use of safe water and supporting facilities for the customers. Those who take up street vending go for it because of limited invest capability for setting up their own facilities in prime areas where crowds congregate and food courts located strategically can rehabilitate these less fortunate entrepreneurs.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

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THE "FOOD CHOWK" CONCEPT- A NEW "EATING" EXPERIENCE AT DELHI

No matter what hygienists feel about street foods, they are here to stay for good and in spite of dire warnings of food poisoning, consumers flock to such vendors for the tasty treats they offer at very reasonable prices. Many attempts have been, and continued to be made by the government as well as well meaning NGOs to reform this sector without much of an impact. It is against such a background that real estate developers are seeing an opportunity in building high class eating complexes with all modern hygiene and sanitation amenities. The recent launch of DLF's Food Chowk in Delhi attempts to do precisely this through their investment in such a venture. It is a tribute to their far sight that many well known restaurants are setting up shops there to serve foods in an environment to tally different from that exists in their star hotels. Probably the expectation is that customers will be able to get most of the ethnic and other food preparations similar to those available with road side vendors but with a better quality and assured safety.

"The most sought after street food vends and regional cuisines - both from the old walled quarters and busy new bazaars of the metropolis - have for the first time come under one roof at their spiffy new address in south Delhi. The brand new Food Chowk is spread across 18,500 square feet at the DLF Mall in Saket. At the customer's service is the Prince Paan - the popular betel kiosk from Greater Kailash - and King's Kulfi from the Laxminagar market with their state-of-the-art interactive kitchen counters and smartly attired crew to cater to individual demands. Jostling for attention at a stone's throw lies Karim's - the capital's oldest and perhaps the best Muslim eatery from Jama Masjid, if the number of awards are anything to go by. Diagonally positioned is Nizam's, followed by the south Indian Sagar Ratna, Hyderabadi's and Maharashtra Food from Dilli Haat; Kathi's from Saket, Sabras from Jasola and Depaul's from Connaught Place. A Indian-Chinese vend Chowamee, an all-India chaat (mix fruits and vegetables) counter, Salad Chef, a salad bar from Vasant Vihar, a 'parantha' (Indian fried bread) enclosure from Chandni Chowk's Paranthe Wali Gaali - the old capital's official bread street - and Bijoli Grill from Kolkata adds to the funky nature of the spread. "Moti Mahal, Nirula, Rajdhani and Nathu's will soon join the gang with their Indian platters, sweetmeats and ice-creams," said Arindam Kumar, vice-president (mall management) of DLF, pointing to empty enclosures which will begin operations next week. The Food Chowk currently has 27 food stalls spread across 32 kiosk spaces".

The foods come with stiff price tags and the clientele profile may be some what different compared to the popular, low cost street vending system. At Rs 250 per person for a reasonable treat, many middle class families may find it difficult to patronize the food out lets in the DLF Food Chowk. How ever the concept involved in Food Chowk system is worth translating into several such projects in many metros under the aegis of the local civic administration and such common man's Food Chowks offering food at reasonable rates will be a boon to the teeming populations that live there.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

OH! KOLKATTA-TEMPTING STREET FOODS

Street vending of foods is a fairly common sight in towns and cities through out India and those who swear by the taste of the foods served, mostly through vending carts or improvised serving places, are literally addicts, patronizing these road side eateries regularly. It is another matter that most of the foods catered by the street vendors are considered unsafe because of the contaminated water used, unhygienic environment, soiled utensils and serving plates and serving personnel of indifferent health. Still food poisoning arising from foods consumed from them is far and few, probably due to development of immunity in regular consumers through frequent exposure over a period of time. How about the reaction from a tourist regarding the prevalence of street vending in India. Here is a typical response from a foreign tourist after observing the food service on the roadsides in some areas of Kolkata.

"The temptation is real. But talk to anyone who has visited India, and you're likely to hear at least one tale of gut-busting food trauma. More intrepid travelers, though, will be tempted to test their luck anyway. I particularly craved phuchkas, a dish Kolkata is famous for, a one-bite shot of spiced potatoes in a tiny sphere of fried bread, doused with tamarind water".

It is understandable that people coming from many developed countries may not be familiar with the phenomenon of street foods as they are used to eating in well protected restaurants having cleaner environment and food safety norms stipulated by the concerned authorities. Their immunity to many common bugs is either nil or minimal exposing them to possible food borne infection when street foods are consumed. Past attempts by national and international agencies to improve the safety of street foods in India have sensitized many such vendors as reflected by improved awareness perceptible amongst some of them. But establishment of an institutionalized program in regional languages, spanning the entire country, to provide some rudimentary training to these vendors will go a long way to make their products much more safer than what they are to day.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com