This the VOA Special English DEVELOPMENT REPORT.
Street food is food that is prepared, sold and eaten on citystreets. Street food is an important part of the diets of people indeveloping countries. An estimated two-thousand-five-hundred-millionpeople worldwide eat street food. This kind of food is low in cost,tasty, nutritious and easy to serve. It is designed for the lives ofbusy people in large cities.
But buyers must be careful about health risks. Studies haverepeatedly found unacceptably high levels of harmful bacteria instreet food products. Recently, the United Nations Food andAgriculture Organization reported on the problem.
Street food sellers in developing countries often lack thestorage, cooking and cooling equipment necessary to prevent theformation of dangerous bacteria. Under some conditions, a singlebacterium can grow into seventeen-million disease-carrying organismsin just eight hours. The lack of clean running water and wasteremoval systems also increases the risk of infection.
The Food and Agriculture Organization is leading an effort tomake street food safer. Over the past fifteen years, it has helpedofficials improve street food in more than twenty cities worldwide.
For example, F-A-O officials have been working with the SouthAfrican government on such a project. The U-N agency produced a foodsafety teaching guide for public health officials. The guide offerssuggestions on how to prepare food safely. A videotape shows howproducing safe food results in increased business. The F-A-O alsohelped publish books that food inspectors will use to educate peoplewho sell street food.
One F-A-O official says the project in South Africa has been sosuccessful that officials in other African countries would like tocopy it.
F-A-O officials and officials in Senegal have begun to improvethe safety of street food businesses in Dakar. A new market area isbeing built for the city. Businesses in the area will have wasteremoval services and fresh water. Food sellers are being taught tokeep cooked food away from uncooked food. The sellers also have beenurged not to prepare and sell food when they are sick.
One F-A-O official notes that sellers of street food productswelcome the advice. She says they recognize that buyers will comeback if they believe in the safety of the products.
This VOA Special English DEVELOPMENT REPORT was written by George Grow.