Eating from vendors on beaches, streets may become safer soon

Chennai: Hot bajjis served on beaches or crispy hot dosas had at roadside stalls are set to become safer to eat if regulators in the city have their way.

In the last few weeks, at least 80 street food vendors on Elliot’s beach were taught about the need for food safety, what the Food Safety and Standard Act expects out of every food business unit, violations and punishments. At the end of the day, vendors who attended the camp were given Food Safety Training & Certification (FoSTaC). “If we have at least one certified personnel in every unit we will improve food quality and also emphasise that they follow all rules,” said A Ramakrishnan, designated food safety officer, Chennai.

For instance, street vendors on the beach were taught about the reuse of oil and safe way to dispose cooking oil. They were taught the importance of hand wash, food preservation and how things they use and their surrounding should be clean, he said.

Street food vendors will be given basic guidance including catering services. Under the FoSTaC programme, the regulator plans to train staff in the organised as well as unorganised sector. For street food vendors, anganwadi workers and Amma canteen staff, the authority is raising funds from people for the course. “We will be rolling out daylong training programmes for vendors on Marina and staff of Amma canteens soon,” another senior official said.

The course offers 17 types of competence-based certification programmes — each of 8 to 12-hour hour duration spread over a couple of days. Street vendors and aganwadi workers were given the basic course and training manuals. Most of the staff were also taught about where and how they should source ingredients and how they can check quality of the ingredients — difference between edible oil/ ghee and the cheap ones that are made for lighting lamps at temples.

Several studies by doctors’ bodies and nutritionists have shown high volumes of Ecoli coliform, salmonella, shigella, staphylococcus aureus and pseudomonas, which are major causes of infections such as diarrhoea, typhoid, food poisoning, urinary tract infections and pneumonia. Food safety training teaches the importance of handwash, which keep a majority of these infections at bay, officials said.