Beware street food during Carnival

The Public Health Inspectorate is urging the public to be careful when buying food, especially from street vendors during Carnival. Chief public health inspector Neil Rampersad said street vending was a high risk operation and the public must make a judgement call by assessing the vendor and the environment before purchasing food.

“The inspectorate cannot be in all places at the same time,” Rampersad said. “Our message to the population is that we want you to put your health in your own hands, not that we want to take away any responsibility, but we want you to make a judgement call before you buy anything.

“Make sure you look at the appearance of the vendor, make sure he has a valid food badge. Is he dirty? Is he smoking? Look at the environment. If you are not seeing water, no bin, seeing garbage, place is smelly, has flies, stray dogs around, that is a red flag.”

In an interview with Newsday at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope, Rampersad said it is imperative that vendors display their food badges while selling food. He said the greatest risk in terms of public health posed by the food handler was dirty hands. “If they do not wash their hands regularly they could spread contamination whether from their bodies or by touching dirty surfaces, or not washing hands after using the toilet,” he said.

“Sometimes we have this false security that if we wear disposable gloves that is safe, but they put on the gloves and touch all sorts of surfaces and then touch the food. A bad experience could compromise the tourist industry. We want the public to know that you have to make an assessment because your health is in your hands, and you have the right not to purchase,” he said.

He said it was not the inspectorate’s intention to close down anyone, but if they did not comply with the inspectors’ request for facility to be run according to specifications, they had no choice. Sometimes they were given a window where they were allowed to sell pre-packaged foodstuff.

“Our intention is not to go and seize anybody’s business just like that, just ensure that you carry about your business in the way we want so you can make a dollar, and I can make a dollar,” he said. Public Health Inspector IV Dr Mark Dookeran said one also to be aware of travellers’ diarrhoea where certain micro organisms caused diseases that the local population would be immune to.