FSSAI calls for drive to generate awareness to discourage the simultaneous handling of food and currency notes.
The ubiquitous currency that you handle on a daily basis from the roadside panipuriwala to the cashier or your sabziwala can be the cause of food poisoning, skin, respiratory and gastro infections. Handling of currency with unclean and soiled hands, use of saliva during counting and storage under unhygienic conditions leads to its contamination with harmful microorganisms, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has said. —Brendan Dabhi
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What research says
Professor Arun Arya, of-ficiating head of Department of Environmental Studies and former head of Botany at MS University in Vadodara, told Mirror, “When we carried out our sample study a few years ago, though we did not find any major diseases, we did find fungi on the currency that can cause allergies and skin problems.”
The Regional Sophisticated Instrumentation Center (RSIC)that had examined currency notes found germs that can cause tuberculosis, meningitis, tonsillitis, peptic ulcers, throat infections and genital tract infections.
Doctors’ warning
Dr Kamlesh Upadhyay, Head of Medicine at Civil Hospital Asarwa, told Mirror, “There are two ways that diseases can spread. First through foodstuff that is contaminated. Second, the vendor may have disease or the vendor’s hands may be unclean.”
On what types of diseases can be spread through such means, Dr Upadhyay said, “From common cold, flu and food poisoning, it can go up to tuberculosis, Hepatitis A and C as well as other airborne diseases.”
Dr Kalpesh Talati, physician at Zydus Hospital, said, “People need to clean their hands while handling currency and wherever possible, even ask the vendors to do so. ”
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