By Nneka Nwogwugwu
Roadside food vendors also known as ‘mama put’ in Nigerian parlance have served as the fastest and affordable means of eating breakfast for some Nigerian workers, Adamu Umar, a civil servant told NatureNews.
He added that, “If not for them, some junior civil servants may not afford to eat in a day at work because we may not afford eating daily at big food eateries considering our poor salaries.
“You can buy food for as cheap as N150 depending on what you want and how you want it.”
However, NatureNews gathered that many roadside food vendors don’t sell foods at hygienic places. Many of them sell foods close to drainage systems, dump sites, bushy areas, swamps and sometimes high tension areas.
When asked why some of the vendors prefer these areas, Ruth, a food vendor at Jabi Garage, FCT said, “This is where we find space to do our business. Some of us cannot afford to rent shops or bigger outlets.”
Apart from unhygienic areas, there are also poor personal hygiene of those handling the food. These poor unhygienic practices include unclean hands, unclean clothes and hair which is not tied back properly.
Food items are prepared in highly polluted environment and open spaces and they serve hot food items on plastics covered with polythene papers.
Some of them commonly use non-permitted colouring agents. Questions are raised on quality of oil and water. Some of the eateries are functioning very close to the places, where passengers pass urinals in open. They also dump food waste and leaves indiscriminately on road.
Speaking on the health implications of unhygienic roadside foods, DeltaNet International, a public health organisation in the UK explained 3 health impacts.
• Food Poisoning
Poor food hygiene practice will lead to those consuming the food to become severely ill, most likely with food poisoning. Gastroenteritis can be caused by the norovirus and bacterial food poisoning, which results in serious vomiting and diarrhoea. When there are large groups of people together, gastroenteritis can spread easily and cause mass illness.
Therefore, poor food hygiene practices do not just affect those who consume food – food poisoning can also be passed on to those who come into contact with sick people, making it a serious health issue.
• Product Recall
If your poor hygiene practice has led to the contamination of food, you will have to pull back a range of different food products which have been contaminated, to stop individuals consuming them and subsequently becoming ill.
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• Reputational Damage
Poor hygiene practices will be heavily scrutinised and judged in the UK. Therefore, the media and press will circulate the latest stories regarding poor food hygiene practices, which will result in a loss of respect for a food business.
On the environmental impacts, a study conducted by the University of Michigan in partnership with Tulane University showed how climate-friendly diets that lead to lower carbon footprints are much healthier for the human body as well.
It stated that eating less red meat, foods that are high in saturated fat, and dairy will lead to good health. Along with that, these diets contribute to a larger share of greenhouse gas emissions since food production is a significant contributor to climate change.
Also, eating junk food threatens the environment in so many ways that we may not even be aware of it, an Indian journalist, Bambi Majumdar wrote.
The transportation, packaging, and emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) during the preparation of fast foods, along with the high percentage of wastage involved in junk food, are too high for us to ignore.
The adoption of traditional farming, a reduction of fuel consumption and a healthier diet will all help combat this issue to a large extent, she noted.
It shouldn’t really come as a surprise that unhealthy foods are bad for the environment.
The processes of preparing fast foods are not natural, and the ingredients aren’t healthy in most cases. Sustainable and healthier diets seek to optimize natural and human resources. They have a low environmental impact because they try to protect biodiversity and ecosystems, contribute to food security, and aim to offer a healthy planet for future generations.
Other environmental impacts include, increase of plastic waste and water logging.
Meanwhile, Poor food hygiene practices listed by DeltaNet are:
a. Undercooking food, resulting in bacteria remaining on food because the core temperature has not reached 75°C or 70°C for 2 minutes.
b. Leaving food out for too long, allowing bacteria to multiply in ideal growth conditions.
c. Storing food incorrectly, such as failing to refrigerate foods between the temperature of 0°C and 5°C. Refrigerators should be set at 3°C or 4°C to ensure food is refrigerated properly.
d. Cross contaminating food with utensils and equipment used for foods which should be separated.
