Eating out? You may be courting diseases

Hyderabad: The next time you plan to dine out with your family or friends, make sure you are not buying diseases.Though contamination of food served in hotels, restaurants and street corner joints is common, what's more worrying is the fact that an unusually very high percentage of food stuff including salads, fruits and juices are laced with a cocktail of deadly bacteria.

A first of its kind study on the food samples collected from a number of hotels, restaurants and street-side eateries in Hyderabad published in the recent issue of the British Food Journal (BFJ) reveals the major health hazard lurking around those aroma-filled and tasty food served in the city. Hold your breath, 98.1% of carrot and 75.5% onion samples analysed for bacterial i ti colonies are unfit for human t consumption. They contain E le coli, the harmful bacteria that r is present in human digestive c system and causes gastroentec ritis. The presence of E coli in food stuff means that the food f served in eateries had come in fe contact with human faeces ­ eith her through contaminated wac ter or unclean hands. Flies and p cockroaches are also culprits. d The mega study conducted t by the Food and Drug Toxicology Research Centre and the Biostatistics department of the ci ty-based National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) covering 463 samples of street food appeared in the February issue of the British Food Journal. According to the study , peeled and cut fruits left uncovered have 13.4 times risk of E coli contamination compared to the fruits kept in closed containers.

“The purpose... is to identify and prioritize the key food safety practices among street food handlers that lead to microbial contamination. These safety practices will help develop and design tailor-made training material for street food vendors in future,“ the study pointed out.Of the 463 samples checked for microbial contamination, 163 were of salads, 150 of fruit juices, and 150 pani puri samples.

The bacteria found on the food stuff analysed were S aureus, E coli, Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., Bacillus cereus, and Yersinia spp. “Pani puri samples picked from the vendors, who did not have soap at the vending unit, had significantly higher contamination of faecal coliforms than those who had,“ the study revealed.

The diseases they cause range from simple loose motions and vomiting to severe food poisoning, leading to even death. Earlier studies revealed that fountain soft drinks and sodas served even in big malls are contaminated with E coli.