In addition to the sweltering heat outside, the street food and cold drinks commonly sold on streets of the national Capital are also a major cause of concern as unhygienic drinks aggravate health of people.
Vendors sell unhealthy food and spurious beverages to people not only threatening the health of people but also hindering smooth flow of traffic.
According to experts, such items are prepared at unauthorised factories and that their sales surge in the summer season. Road side fruit chat, fruit juices laced with the ice cubes and street food snacks can land you in emergency room of the hospital.
One can suffer from foodborne disease such as food poisoning, viral infection, jaundice, gastrointestinal problems cholera and typhoid, say doctors. City doctors are of the view that in summers, road side cut fruits and juices should be avoided as these are the real source of infection and germs.
It was found in a study that dust particles outside contain impurities including Escherichia Coli (E. coli), which is usually found in faeces. Once it gets settled onto the food, it can cause growth of tapeworm inside the stomach.
Dr RK Singhal, Head of Department in Internal Medicine at BlK Super Speciality Hospital said, “Fruits should always be eaten within 30 minutes after it is cut. The roadside chopped fruits should not be eaten as these fruits are left open on which flies and insects sit. Also, the dust particles and impurities can lead to various types of health illness such as loose motion, food poisoning and viral fever too.”
A glass of tempting fruit juice available on rood side is a bank of infection and gastrointestinal illness, said the doctors. Dr SP Byotra, Director in the Internal Medicine at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said that the low standard of water/ contaminated water is used for cleaning glasses and quality of ice cubes used for fruit juice is not good.”
Dr Byotra said that a few days ago, he got a patient suffering from gastrointestinal illness. “The patient became so serious that he developed kidney disorder and had to be shifted to the ICU,” he said.
Health experts say that a study has found that the roadside food contains impurities leading to the growth of tapeworm inside the stomach. The Escherichia Coli (E. coli) is usually found in faeces and do not survive outside for long time. The street food with E. coli can cause intestinal infection like abdominal cramps; diarrhea, vomiting and fever, said the doctor adding people can suffer from pneumonia (lung infection), urinary tract infection, meningitis leading to emergency like situation.
While in summer months, doctors say that one has to take more precautions in their dietary habits. Doctors say that fruit juices should be prepared with high standard of hygiene, good quality water and ice cubes. People should intake more of seasonal fruits such as litchi, water melon, musk melon, kiwi, cucumber, mangoes and berries to maintain the body temperature.
Dr Vaijnath Dhaspase, Internal Medicine at Park Hospital said that for the last few days, they are receiving patients with dehydration, dysentery, loose motions and viral fever. Intake of water should be more to keep the body hydrated, he said.