Sale of unhygienic food goes unchecked on Herat streets

HERAT CITY (Pajhwok): Some residents of western Herat province have expressed their concern over the unchecked sale of unhygienic foodstuffs in open places in the provincial capital.

They say such food is prepared in smelly crowded areas of the city without any sanitary arrangement and measures being adopted.

Street food has become a normal routine in Herat city, but residents emphasis on allocation of a specific location for such food providers and ask the officials to keep a check on their work.

Sayed Ahmad, a resident of 3^rd district of Herat City told Pajhwok Afghan News that majority of vendors and fast food restaurants did not observe hygiene while some even did not wear gloves.

He said: “Most food handlers do not maintain personal hygiene and a chef himself does all works at a fast food restaurant without wearing gloves”.

Noorullah, another resident of Herat city, said the municipality should keep a constant check on all food vendors and restaurants.

He said the municipality and the Public Health Department should form a joint monitoring committee to check sellers of foodstuffs in order to protect people from diseases caused by unhealthy food.

Health experts say that substandard food may cause diseases like typhoid, hepatitis, diarrhoea and different kinds of infections among citizens.

Doctor Manuchehr Mutahari, a health expert, said roadside fast foods were the main source of viruses and illnesses.

He clarified semi-cooked foods, vegetables and not observing hygiene by food sellers caused different illnesses such as diarrhea, vomiting, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, high blood sugar, typhus and food poisoning in some conditions.

He asked officials of relevant authorities to monitor such restaurants and fast food providers in the city.

He said: “Food hygiene or buying food from a suitable place is not considered  recently by people, that is why different diseases are spreading among them”.

However, officials said they monitored such restaurants strictly in the city.

Abdul Nasir Shahbazi, the head of environment protection department, said, all food vendors who worked in open places will be distributed special food stalls and they will be relocated to a specific location of the city in the future.

Once special food stalls are set up, all activities of such food providers will be controlled, he said.

The Municipality of Herat says its directorate of markets management authority is usually monitoring restaurants and food vendors.

Health experts believe serving stale foods create problems for digestive and immune systems and create health problems.

aw/ma

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