Hygiene at food stalls questioned
By T. Sima Gunawan
ISTANBUL, Turkey (JP): They may be mouthwatering, but food sold by sidewalk vendors and the foodstuffs at marketplaces in big cities like Jakarta may not be hygienic and, therefore, hazardous to your health, United Nations health experts said.
Food hygiene was extensively discussed at a session here on Friday, part of the ongoing UN Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat) II, which will end on June 14.
Experts said that improvement in hygiene, particularly relating to food, is crucial in any discussion on urban development in developing countries.
World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Hiroshi Nakajima, said in an interview with Indonesian journalists on Friday that hygienic principles should be applied on food sold by street vendors.
Health education is important for the street vendors so that they can become health conscious, Nakajima said.
City administrators should be careful in their approach when dealing with urban problems related to health because every city has its own problems.
"The dimensions of a megacity like Jakarta are different from those of an industrialized country," he said.
Health and education should become high priorities for Jakarta's urban development, he added.
WHO is also concerned with food safety at marketplaces.
"A healthy marketplace is a key ingredient of a healthy city," WHO food safety scientist Gerald Moy said in a background paper presented at the session.
In developing countries, marketplaces frequently appear spontaneously and evolve without much planning or any consideration for food safety, Moy said.
Worse, basic health infrastructure, such as water supply, sanitation and solid waste disposal, is frequently inadequate and leads to widespread contamination of food, he said.
"Markets may be colorful sights. The trouble is that the food sold in them is often not clean and consequently not safe," he said.
According to his paper, four types of food hazards are found in urban markets.
* The food becomes unsafe during preparation and/or during transport and is sold without inspection or control.
* The food becomes unsafe while in the market, due to improper handling or storage.
* While it is in the market, the food is contaminated by poor environmental conditions.
* Food can be adulterated by the vendors, leading to health and nutritional problems for the customers.
WHO has established pilot projects in Nigeria and Tanzania to deal with such problems. The results of the projects are expected to spread around the world, especially in developing countries.
Health and city authorities in developing countries should make food markets cleaner, safer and more attractive with simple but appropriate technologies, Moy said.
"This spread will be mostly in developing countries, but not exclusively. Europeans love their outdoor markets, too. It's just that since they are richer than African, Latin American and many Asian populations, they can apply the necessary measures to ensure the sale of safe food in hygienic markets," he said.