Hyderabad: The next time you eat street food, avoid the raw onions and carrots.
A study carried out by the city-based National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) on salad served with fast food found that carrots served by more than three quarters of street vendors in Hyderabad, and more than half the onions, had stomach illness causing bacteria.
Scientists warn about the potential hazards of salads from street vendors owing to their practice of not washing and peeling vegetables.
Like many other cities, street food is quite prevalent in Hyderabad with onions and carrots being the most common raw vegetables served in salads.
The study was carried out by Alekhya Sabbithi, R. Naveen Kumar, L. Kashinath, V. Bhaskar, and V. Sudershan Rao of the Food and Drug Toxicology Research Centre of NIN among street food vendors in four different zones of Hyderabad.
The scientists found three kinds of bacteria present in raw veggies served by street vendors like Yersinia, which is known to cause stomach illness. Researchers also found Staphylococcus Aureus and Salmonella, which causes food poisoning and even typhoid.
The study found that 68 per cent vendors served carrots with Yersinia while 24 per cent vendors served Yersinia infected onions.
Salmonella was prevalent in carrots served by 58 per cent vendors and in onions served by about 45 per cent of vendors.
A whopping 74 per cent of street vendors served carrots with Staphylococcus Aureus while 56 per cent onions had the bacteria. E Coli were also detected in some samples.
The bacterial load on carrots was higher since they were not peeled.
Stalls in the Old City had high levels of contamination compared to others.
An analysis of the sources of the transmission were also studied. The hazards of the raw street food were mainly attributed to unhealthy and unhygienic practices by vendors in cutting and serving vegetables.
“Ninety-eight percent of the vendors did not wash the vegetables before processing and serving while about 56 per cent of the vendors did not peel the vegetables. Also, majority of the street vendors’ nails were uncut,” researchers said.
The scientists also found that dry and clean cutting boards reduced the Yersinia and Salmonella contamination, which mostly occurred due to unwashed veggies or washing with contaminated water.
