Delhi’s eclectic range of street food is known and loved for many
things. Hygiene is not among them. The capital where thousands of
vendors sell snacks and meals from carts, stalls and the back of
bicycles, lends its name to the stomach upset known to travelers as
Delhi Belly and has a reputation for requiring diners to have a strong
digestive system.
Now, government officials and a group representing the street vendors themselves want to change that.
On Monday, the Food Safety and Standards Authority, a statutory body administered by the Ministry of Health, and the National Association of Street Vendors of India,
a New Delhi-based self-governed organization, gathered 500 of the men
and women who serve food on Delhi’s streets for a day of training in
basic food safety and hygiene.
Each vendor was handed a small kit containing an apron, a pair of
disposable gloves, a plastic head covering, a small bar of soap and a
long list of the do’s and don’ts of personal hygiene when serving food.
Number one on the list: Do not pick your nose.
The training program is designed to help vendors improve standards
and diners know where it’s safe to eat out in Delhi. It’s the outcome of
a survey conducted by NASVI in eight of the most popular areas for
street food in the city, which found more than 90% of the 139 street
food vendors interviewed, admitted to lack of personal hygiene and
unkempt surroundings at their outlet.
“The food you serve is tasty, it’s irresistible. The only thing the
customer needs to be assured of is that it’s hygienic,” said K.
Chandramouli, FSSAI’s chairperson, in his address to the street food
sellers.
NASVI representatives chose one vendor with the most hygienic
practice from each of the eight areas. These vendors sold food ranging
from omelets to tea, gol gappas (hollow pastry balls filled with potato and tamarind water), momos (dumplings) and chicken curry in different parts of the city.
Earlier this month, they were trained by a professional from the
hospitality industry for three days and have been appointed as
ambassadors for hygienic food preparation on the city’s streets. The
areas will then be designated as ‘Safe Street Food Zones.’
“If I don’t want street food to make me or my family fall sick, how
could I prepare food that makes people fall ill?” said Dilip Kumar, one
of those chosen as an ambassador.
The 31-year-old fresh fruit juice vendor, set shop on the stage
Monday and made the audience identify what he was doing wrong as he
prepared fruit juice without gloves on and used a trashcan with no lid
for waste disposal.
While some in the audience immediately recognized these flaws, there
were others who thought the time required for hygienic preparation would
delay service and in fact drive customers away.
“You might think this is lengthy, but it’s actually only healthy,” said Mr. Kumar in response to the criticism.
The Food and Agriculture Organization
estimates almost three million people in India are involved in the
unorganized food industry with most of them operating without a license.
In an attempt to combat issues related to food safety, a new set of rules came into effect in 2011 to ensure hygiene is prioritized in the manufacture and sale of street food.
These rules, issued by the FSSAI, made it mandatory for street vendors to register with state health departments, which monitor hygiene and sanitation.
Two years later, the process of registration hasn’t gained momentum in Delhi.
Suniti Gupta, who works with Delhi’s food safety department,
said that since it is impossible to register every mobile and
stationery street food vendor manually, a computerized mechanism is
being put in place.
“Also it is next to impossible to check each and every food vendor,” he added.
A large majority of the audience on Monday, said the training was useful, though others said it taught them nothing new.
“Had I known this was a training on hygiene, I wouldn’t have come all
the way. But now that I am here, I might as well stay for lunch,” said
Sonu, an 18-year-old who goes by one name and sells kachodis (lentil-based
puffed pastries served along with a portion of spiced potato curry)
from his cart in east Delhi. He added that his standards of preparation
already complied with food hygiene regulations.
In India’s 11th five-year plan, which ended in 2012, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries formulated a program to upgrade the quality of street food available in India by improving training and infrastructure.
According to a government review, it was not implemented beyond a pilot program.
Street food vendors say that they want to obtain a license but are
hampered by the convoluted bureaucratic process of getting one. Without a
license not only do they face the threat of being shut down, but are
unable to register complaints.
Some vendors said that government bodies responsible for cleaning the
areas where they set up their stalls don’t do a proper job. If the
vendors complain, they are ignored because they say they have no legal
proof that they operate from a given location.
Hari Om Kashyap, who runs a street-side eatery in east Delhi, said
“Without that license, we are unidentifiable and no one will come to our
rescue.”
Eight Areas Earmarked to Be ‘Safe Street Food Zones’ Tilak Nagar [West Delhi]
Sarojini Nagar [South Delhi]
Krishna Nagar [East Delhi]
Karol Bagh [Central Delhi]
Chandni Chowk [Central Delhi]
Paharganj [Central Delhi]
Area around New Delhi Railway Station
Area around Nizamuddin Railway Station
List of Don’ts While Preparing/Serving Food
Do not pick your nose
Do not clean your ears with your fingers
Do not comb your hair
Do not wipe sweat with your hands
Do not wipe your hands with your clothes
Do not use your fingers to taste the ingredients
Do not spit into the washbasin
Do not smoke
Avoid wearing jewelry
Do not comb your hair
Do not wipe sweat with your hands
Do not wipe your hands with your clothes
Do not use your fingers to taste the ingredients
Do not spit into the washbasin
Do not smoke
Avoid wearing jewelry
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