Vulnerability of people to uncovered, unhygienic street food goes unnoticed

Srinagar : Uncovered and poor hygienic condition of roadside food in every nook and corner of Kashmir valley is posing serious health threat to the people but it has gone noticed as the vendors selling food on roadsides without any registration from food safety department evade action
“One can see numerous roadside food and vegetable vendors putting up temporary shops and people thronging there to buy fresh fruits and vegetables for daily needs or to satiate their taste buds but when it comes to hygiene the standard is often poor and the authorities concerned are seemingly turning blind eye to this issue”, said a group of locals at Kokernag the famous tourist destination in South Kashmir as they further said “One could easily see vendors selling their food items without adhering to the health safety standards, detrimental to the consumers and many vendors habitually do not cover their food items, exposing it to dust, flies and germs alike”. They also alleged that moreover, contrary to the Government directions, use of colour additives continues unabated. Experts say that “prolonged use of harmful chemicals in the form of preservatives and additives can cause lead to deadly diseases”. “It seems that Food Safety Department has exempted roadside or makeshift vendors selling food items from adhering to the health safety norms, resulting in serious health hazards to the common masses”, said a tourist guide in Anantnag .A food safety expert said “Roadside vendors are selling Juices, Nimbo Pani, Ice Creams etc and majority of them are not following guidelines of Drug and Food Control Organization, Kashmir as they continue to carry out their business operations in severely unhygienic conditions”.
“Citizens who purchase fast-food from these vendors are not concerned about the health risks despite knowing that utensils used for cooking fast food are not properly washed and water used for cooking is also unhypgenic. Use of substandard spices in the cooking too is not noted by the customers at the fast food outlets”, he added. Allegations are galore that officials of food safety department have not launched any drive against the unregistered vendors in any part of Kashmir valley. Raising the concerns people in a congested areas of Anantnag town said “Majority of these vendors are not registered with the Food Safety Department”.
A senior official in FSD on conditions of anonymity, said that authorities always are yet to launch a valley wide campaign against roadside vendors due to their engagement with the ongoing Amarnath Yatra. He said any person handling food in any hotel, restaurant, shop or any other public eating place must be in possession of health certificate of Food Safety Department”.