Facts and Side effects of eating street foods

This article explains side effects of consumption of street foods. street foods are generally more yummy and spicy due to addition of extra spices and Mono sodium glutamate MSG that can actually do more harm to our health upon consumption. this article also explains facts about unhygienic street food and their side effects.

India is a house of different diverse religions, traditions and cultures. Out of different cultures, many types of foods exist in our country. Particularly, street food is most prominent activity that takes place in every nook and corner of India. You can expect a mobile shop selling various street foods at your nearest junction. As these street foods have amazing sweet, chilly and tangy flavours that you can't find in traditional foods, most of the people find an excuse to visit street food stalls nearby to fulfill their appetite. Though these stalls serve many hungry stomachs, guess what these street foods aren't healthy for you. Lets discuss the fact's why you need to avoid street food along with their side effects.

Side effects of street foods and related facts

Guess what? They don't have FSSAI licence

Yes, you heard it right! These street food stalls have vendor licence to sell street foods but they don't have food safety and standards authority of India FSSAI licence. Every food product that is manufactured in India or abroad that needs to sell their products in India must comply with FSSAI standards and must obtain licence to sell that product. You are so particular about checking FSSAI logo when they buying packed food but why don't you request the availability of licence for street foods too? If FSSAI would start to provide licences to street food vendors, I'm sure most stalls won't comply with FSSAI standards.

Lack of cleanliness

Most of the street food vendors lack cleanliness. Their preparation of food items, serving procedure is so unclean that if you check out how actually they cook, you would probably suffer from nausea. Almost every street food vendor cooks food in unhygienic conditions. They use bare hands to cut onions and they don't even mind knife cuts, bruises on their hands that may actually contaminate food with their blood. Usage of those monthly once replaceable towels with which vendor cleans sorry unclean his hands is home for lots of bacteria and viruses. 

Laboratory tests reveal that presence of e-coli bacteria colonies are higher in street foods with which you may suffer with fever, head ache and stomach ache along with vomiting.

Those extra spice ingredients will harm you for sure!

Reputed companies like coco cola may reveal their patented secret ingredients but these street food vendors surely won't! You will actually look one facet of tasty street food but another facet you need to consider is what ingredients that they add to make it extra spice. Many stalls of panipuri chat were reported usage of half a tea spoon of tasting salt that is nothing but mono sodium glutamate MSG in short. You may be aware of why Maggi noodles banned in India because of excess MSG content. Not everyone can withstand this dose of higher MSG per serving, some of them are too sensitive for it, MSG is reportedly a silent killer as its side effects include heart palpitations or severe un coordinated heart beating, chest pain, nausea, headache, flushing and excessive sweating. Those these symptoms may not appear for one serving of street food, but repeated exposure to higher MSG may cause the above side effects

Oil fried foods can seize your heart's activity in long term

At many stalls uses cheap oils to fry chips and other accessory like papads, crispy rings and fried noodle items that are served in your plate. Producers of animal bone based fat oil accepted the fact that they sell their oil to street food vendors. Consumption of such foods made of animal fat oil can deposit cholesterol rapidly in your arteries, veins and valves near to the heart that may result in acute mayo cardiac arrest or heart attack in a very young age. 

Due to re utilization of used oil to cook food, carbon soot particles may settle in your stomach upon their consumption leading to stomach upset, indigestion and liver based issues.

Blindly trusting culinary experience of street food vendor? Then no one can save you!

You cannot compare culinary experiences of your wife, who cooks in most hygienic way and to street food vendor who may be a fresher in cooking. Note that every street food vendor can't serve you fresh food or tasty food, you will feel awkward if you taste food from a new vendor. So always visit a trusted vendor who cooks in hygienic conditions. Many incidents reported and videos available over YouTube reveals that teen vendors at times makes fun of their customers and one vendor served some food with his saliva and urine in it. Yes you need to believe it! National media had covered this news too. 

You could probably suffer with contagious diseases like diarrhea that occurs due to parasitic infection.

Conclusion

So need to careful while choosing a best street food outlet and always choose the one that is preferred by most of the public. Always enquire about ingredients and be cautionary on extra usage of MSG. Avoid eating in unhygienic stalls even though they offer yummy food. Spread the facts and side effects of eating street food in public and don't hesitate to complain on vendor to local district food inspector in case you experience any health problems upon consumption of street food.