Rawalpindi street food is tasty but how safe is it?

Pindiites are often proud of the variety of mouth-watering street food available in the city. It is common to find youngsters talking and savoring street food. When it comes to taste and variety there is no doubt that Rawalpindi has every type. However, a big question mark hovers over the hygiene of the food served on the streets of the city.

Zulfiqar Ali was eating biriyani at a shop in Raja Bazaar. Near the shop, the disgusting street dogs were fighting over the pieces of leftover meat thrown to them from the stall. When pointed out, he said, “I have been buying biriyani from this shop for five years and no one in my family has ever fallen ill. The children love this and there have never been any health issues.”

“Talk to anyone who has been living in the city for years and has witnessed the explosion of street food eateries or their growth over time and different perspectives emerge. While no one really gives an undertaking for the hygiene or food safety standards, they still enjoy it,” says Hasrat Hussain from Jailani Mohallah.

Iftikhar Naqi from Shah Khalid Colony says, “Street food shops have mushroomed all over the city in the midst of plying vehicles emitting black smoke, and some makeshift shops are located under the dripping rainwater from the overhead make-shift tarpaulin roofs during monsoon. They are rarely a deterrent to customer interest.”

Haider Ali, who lives in Dhoke Hafiz, says, “I am not tolerant about it. A biriyani shop has cropped up in front of my house. One fine day they just put up bamboos, put a tarpaulin sheet on top, placed two wooden benches, and opened shop. It has become very popular in the locality since then. But I avoid it.”

Ghulam Ali, the Haider’s brother says, “I have the same feeling. Every day from my balcony, I see the way they wash the utensils. Pouring the same water from one utensil to another. It is very unhygienic. It’s nauseating to watch.”

“There is, in fact, a grading within street food shops in the city. Some shops despite the challenges, stick to a stringent standard of hygiene. They keep utensils very clean and only sell until their day’s raw material gets over. They never reuse it,” says Najmul Hasan of Faisal Colony.

Syed Hasan, who deals with fried chicken and fish in Gulzar-e-Quaid is careful about hygiene, says, “If I buy chicken in bulk, it may be low-priced but as I store it for long I compromise on hygiene. Therefore, I buy eight kg of chicken in a day. I buy five kg in the morning and three kg again in the evening, according to requirement. The same goes for fish.”