Driving factors of food safety standards in India: learning from street-food vendors’ behaviour and attitude

Barriers to ensuring and sustaining street food safety in a developing economy

Street foods are one of the highest contributors to foodborne illness in most developing economies around the world. In Ghana, diarrhoeal diseases, which are usually food or waterborne, are among the top ten causes of death. Most street food safety risks are avoidable when all food safety regulations are complied with. This paper identified and examined the barriers to the implementation of street food safety regulations in Ghana. A qualitative research approach was adopted by collecting data from nine focus group discussion sessions involving a total of 94 participants and five key informant interviews. The research uncovered three broad but interconnected categories of challenges to ensuring and sustaining street food safety: street vendor anonymity as a central challenge; poor trust in the regulatory system as root challenges; and vendor practices that risk the safety of street foods as consequential challenges. These findings have tangible policy implications. To best serve their purpose, policymakers need to understand these food safety challenges and ensure that food safety policies are responsive to the challenges.

Determination of Quality of Green Chili Sauce Served by Street Food Venders (SFVs) in Delhi (India)

Background:

India is enriched with local culture and street food vending practices. Street Food Joints (SFJs) cater to the demands of economical and on-the-go needs of the consumers. In view of its increasing popularity, the quality and safety aspects of street foods need continuous evaluation.

Objectives:

There are not many studies in our country focusing on the quality determination of sauces being served as an accompaniment to street foods by local venders. Therefore, this study was undertaken to assess the quality of commonly served green chili sauce.

Methods:

A total of 100 samples in duplicate of green chili sauce were collected from Street Food Joints in five geographical zones of Delhi. The pH, titratable acidity and Total Soluble Solids (TSS) content on salt-free basis was assessed for all samples using standardized estimation techniques given by National regulator (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India-FSSAI).

Results:

The pH of the samples was in the range of 3.1-5.1. The average titratable acidity expressed as acetic acid was 0.67± 0.25 %, which is below the limit of 1% given by FSSAI. The average TSS content (salt-free basis) was found to be 6.23 ± 3.75 % which is well below the regulatory limit of 8%. Only 25% of samples conformed to the national regulatory limits for all parameters.

Conclusion:

Stringent surveillance system which lays emphasis on the training of microentrepreneurs needs to be framed to ensure regulatory compliance amongst small-scale manufacturers of street foods such as green chili sauce.