Schoolchildren having fuchka on their way back home from school at Manda in the capital. A study revealed that such food items sold in Dhaka have coliform which could cause diseases like diarrhoea, dysentery and typhoid. The photo was taken recently. Photo: Sk Enamul Haq Over 40 percent of street food items and beverages sold in the capital have been found contaminated with coliform, a group of va
rious bacteria, raising public health concerns of the urban people, according to a new study. Thirty percent of the food items have been detected with more than 100 Escherichia coli, commonly known as E.coli, a part of the group of faecal coliforms, and 10 percent with less than 20 E coli. E coli is a form of bacteria found in the human or animal intestinal tract, and may cause health hazards like diarrhoea, typhoid, and dysentery, health experts say. “Even if one E coli is found in food, it is not safe, but considering a high environmental contamination with human pathogens we tend to accept less than 20 E.coli in food acceptable,” said Aliya Naheed, associate scientist at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), who led the study. Only 59 percent of street food and beverage items have not been detected with an E coli, says the research conducted by the icddr,b. The study tested food items of 115 street vendors in Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) between December 2013 and October 2014. The food items included various cooked food like chotpoti, fuchka, sugarcane juice, fruit juice, bakery items, pre-cut fruits and vegetables (guava, cucumber), jhalmuri, chanachur, doi-chira etc. Advertisement “We have tested only E coli, but there might be other germs in these food items,” said Aliya, interim head of Chronic Non-Communicable Disease Unit, icddr, b. Icddr, b conducted the study with support from the Grand Challenges Canada and in collaboration with the DSCC, Food and Agricultural Organization, RFL Plastics Ltd, and Bangladesh Consumers Association. The study report “Behavioural Interventions of Street Food Vendors for Strengthening Street Food Safety in Dhaka City” is scheduled to be disseminated to the public today. Aliya Naheed said vendors' lack of awareness on hygiene practices, inadequate access to potable water supply and use of unsafe water, and overall unsanitary environmental conditions were the major factors behind high contamination of street foods with human faecal pathogen. As part of the study, 115 vendors were provided training on hygiene practices, narrow-mouth water reservoir and water purification tablets, liquid soap for washing hands after toilet and hand sanitiser for cleaning hands after touching dirty surface. After monitoring them for 12 weeks, significant change was found in their hygiene behaviours, said Aliya. The amount of E coli too was found fewer than what was found before the intervention. Aliya Naheed said an estimated one lakh mobile street vendors are there in Dhaka city, and they provide a great service to the urban people. Also, it is a livelihood option for them. She suggested awareness on hygiene practices and providing necessary infrastructure to the vendors to ensure safe street food. Aliya, for example, recommended providing the vendors with access to pure water and proper food preparation training. Contacted, DSCC Health Officer Mir Mustafizur Rahman said authorities now enforce the Pure Food Ordinance 1959 to ensure safe food anywhere in the country as rules are yet to be formulated on the basis of the Safe Food Act 2013. “However, the problem in ensuring safety of street foods is that the sellers do not have any holdings or licences,” he told The Daily Star. The DSCC is considering different options like providing improved food carts and registering the vendors so they can be facilitated in improving hygiene and also held accountable, Mustafizur Rahman said.
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