Assessment of street food management in 3 cities of India and evaluating the level of understanding by the food handlers

Among all types of food establishments, the street foods number the highest, catering to the needs of the largest number of consumers. The consumers vary from rich to middle class to poor, but they mainly cater to the needs of the largest number of under privileged people in urban as well as in selected rural areas. The variety is huge; accessibility is excellent; taste caters for all; cost is cheap and it is a source of earning for many. However, the major drawback of this sector is maintenance of the safety and hygiene of the food and water they provide. The reasons are many viz low KAP of the vendors; open environment, lack of basic infrastructure etc. The present study did a detailed assessment of the street food management in 3 cities of India viz Kolkata, Patna and Agartala. 60 street food zones were covered to assess the existing situation; identify the basic problems of the sector and at the same time evaluate the level of understanding of the vendors covering all aspects of street food management and safety by using targeted IEC strategies. The issues were segregated in groups, based on their understanding, so that targeted and strategic programmes can be developed in future, based on this. All stakeholders - vendors, helpers, customers, authorities, NGO's etc. were involved in this study.