Risky food practices have been reported in the past also but the Food Safety officials continue inspections at food stalls for not more than few weeks after which such unhealthy practices are revived by the vendors again and the revival of unhygienic and unsafe food practices as such is a regular practice of roadside eateries.
Vendors selling eateries on the roadsides is in no way an unusual practice putting to risk the lives of hundreds of roadside eaters everywhere in Jammu & Kashmir as running a road side eatery is as usual as is running a tea stall in any food street in the twin capital cities Srinagar and Jammu . Police dismantling one makeshift shop for using contaminated oil from a container out of which a dead mouse was recovered won’t end the delivery of unhygienic and unsafe food at makeshift shops in the food streets anywhere in Kashmir valley or Jammu division. Regular inspections by the Food Safety Department on the makeshift shops can however reduce the sale of such risky foot practices at food streets in twin capital cities and major towns of both Kashmir Valley and Jammu division. This time public outcry against the use of oil from a container out of which a dead mouse was recovered has woke up authorities of Food Department from deep slumber and the shop of vendor has been dismantled in a joint operation with the local police authorities. Such risky food practices have been reported in the past also but the Food Safety officials continue inspections at food stalls for not more than few weeks after which such unhealthy practices are revived by the vendors again and the revival of unhygienic and unsafe food practices as such is a regular practice of roadside eateries. Unfortunately growing number of unhygienic roadside eateries and fast-food shops poses a constant threat to the lives of regular eaters across cities and towns in Jammu & Kashmir like other parts of the country. The precedence of last more than two decades shows that number of roadsides eateries doubles annually and there is no dead end to it across cities and towns both in Kashmir Valley and as well as Jammu division. While the fact remains that public opinion is divided over the question of removing the roadside eateries, none is opposed to curbs on unhygienic methods followed by the eateries for preparing, cooking and serving food to the passengers and bystanders at most of the bus stands in cities and towns.
“Since experiences have shown that food contamination often leads to dysentery, cholera and jaundice, administrative wisdom demands that use of poor quality of oil and artificial colouring agents is declared a punishable offence and working hours of food safety officials are changed on rotational basis through attendance procedures adopted for morning and evening duties at both Government and private hospitals not only in Jammu & Kashmir but in every State and Union Territory of the country.”
While the roadside eateries prepare food items in highly polluted environment and serve hot food items on plastics covered with polythene papers in open spaces the food safety officials don’t bother to inspect roadside eateries in any food street in any city or town in Kashmir Valley or Jammu division. Experiences of decades have shown that vendors in food streets are overcrowded with customers mostly in the morning and evening hours the time when foot safety officials can’t be asked to conduct inspections. If asked to shut their business operations in morning and evening hours the eatery owners will simply argue that they are forced to cater to the basic human needs of hundreds of long distance travelers, who prefer to travel in the night. Since experiences have shown that food contamination often leads to dysentery, cholera and jaundice, administrative wisdom demands that use of poor quality of oil and artificial colouring agents is declared a punishable offence and working hours of food safety officials are changed on rotational basis through attendance procedures adopted for morning and evening duties at both Government and private hospitals not only in Jammu & Kashmir but in every State and Union Territory of the country.
