Street
food vending is found around the world which has variations within both regions
and cultures. Street food means ready to eat and drink in public place by hawker
or vendor, often in the form of portable stall.
Due to today’s busy lifestyles, people do not have time to cook food therefore
they prefer fast food which contains more and more additives in it. Street food
culture is getting popular day by day in Nepalese society due to number of
reasons, such as to obtain in reasonably cost within short time in comparison
to average restaurant meals. Panipuri, Chanachatpata, Chowmein, Momo, Chat,
Aloo tikkies, Samosha, Sweets, chicken souses etc. are very much popular menu
among them. There is no doubt that traditional foods prepared in the street are
attracting more consumers and tourist but it is also true that the country is
struggling to come up with international standards. Food sold in the street of
Nepal is not hygienic in compared to those in developed countries due to its
poor infrastructure.
Sometime,
I do love to go for street food but I was surprised when I encounter with a
situation where plate, spoon and cup were cleaned with the same water which has
been previously used. Observing the incident, I had vomiting then and there and
had fever and diarrhea later on at home. Observing the situation, we can
imagine that most of the cup and plates which served to us were not properly
clean. Not only the street vendor, the so called modern cafeteria, bakery and
restaurant runner are not clean on this issue, there is no proper toilet, no
smoking zone and refrigerator for the public display. Regarding the issue, news has been appeared
in media that the department of food technology and quality control has raid in
some beverage factories, food store and sweets home. It is praised worthy job
but it is not enough to control the growing number of food manufacturing. The
department of food technology and quality control are appearing like a full
moon which is not enough to maintain the quality control of food and hygiene.
The food inspector need to go shop to shop to collect sample without being
bias and provide the proper license to
sale the manufacturing food product on the street. The food stall over the open
drain of foot path must be banned as it poses health risk. There must be proper
rules and regulation for the street food seller. Government must intensify the
drive of registering and licensing the street food business operator.
Being
member of different international organizations, Nepal has many food safety
related obligations to comply with rules and regulations of those
organizations. Food safety related issues started to become matter of increased
concern and one of the priority areas of the government after the country has
become member of the world trade organization (WTO) in 2004. The World Health
Organization too has designated food safety as one of its priority areas,
however, it is recognized that developing countries have long way to go in
building system that can ensure food safety.
The
Department of Food Technology and Quality Control has recorded food
adulteration in 2009-10. The department report shows that about 125 samples
were found to be substandard out of 832 food samples examined by the department.
Around 140 food samples were recorded as substandard a year ago though there is
no significant change in the quality All food manufactures, retailer,
wholesaler, supplier, hawkers, weekly market sellers, small scale industries,
restaurant and hoteliers, fruits and vegetable vendor, paanbhandar owner,
Catering service, fish and meat sellers, milk and beverage industries etc. all
need to be raided time and again to insure the food quality.
Food
additives play an important role in today’s complex food supply, to meet the
huge demand of street food, several shopkeepers add harmful colors to make them
look attractive which could lead to serious health disorder in the long run, as
we know that food additives have been used for centuries with the purpose to the
food in order to affect foods keeping quality, texture, consistency,
appearance, odour, taste or to serve any other technological functions in the
manufacturing processing or the storage of the food. Long term consumption of
such foods filled with food additives my create problem in immunity system and
a tumor in stomach that can lead to cancer. The foods born disease are caused
by eating food or drinking beverages contaminated with bacteria, and other type
of preservative chemical.
There
is no proper mechanism to control the cross border manufactured food directly
imported to Nepal. Most of edible item has loose packing, no proper price tag
and date of expiry. The consumer awareness is very important on this matter.
Everybody knows that it is impossible to have a Zero risk situation in foods
but regular monitoring from government may minimize the risk. Government must
identify and license to those street vendor across the city. Those recognized
street vendor need to teach through
workshop about the ways of maintaining food quality and to inform them about
how this business will boost up their income. Not only the government, the
street vendor themselves need to organize to ensure acceptable standard of food
quality and hygiene to run their business for long time.
If
we can manage to address the issues of hygienic and quality of food, packaging
and maintenance of hygiene during preparation than it will automatically
increase the demand of street food to sustain the healthy and fit life. The
practice of disposable cup, plate and spoon can minimize the health risk. The
health is naturally a major priority of us so government must inspect all
vendor, hotel and restaurant to check the quality food time and again. It is
the right time for the government of Nepal to take note on the growing number
of street food vendor sold over the footpath. We must not forget that the right
to life and human dignity encompasses the right to have quality food and
beverage which should be free from harmful chemicals.
By Giri Bahadur Sunar
The
author is Meditation Practitioner and sociologist by profession can be reached
at girithejorba@gmail.com
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