It’s cheap, but is it safe?: the pros and cons of street food

By Kesshamminne Krimzei Carreon

It makes one wonder what tricks Ate Daday* has up her sleeve that entices swarms of people to buy her street foods.

Under the huge santol tree in the middle of the purok stands a street food set-up famous for its kwek-kwek, fishball, and kikiam -- the Tusok-tusok Corner. Every single day, a crowd lines up and gathers around the stand even before Ate Daday gets to display her signature products.

It is no secret that the street foods are delicious. In fact, they are sold out each day. However, with each bite of each treat comes the threat that no one really cares or thinks about when consuming them: disease.

Tasty

It is truly a great experience when we get to try food that is cheap yet can satisfy our hunger. Enter street food. There are various kinds, the most popular are those dipped in a pot of cooking oil: kwek-kwek, kikiam, fishball, squid ball and even fried siomai. They are usually paired with a sweet vinegar-based sauce with chopped cucumber.

Ihaw-ihaw is also famous. This usually includes pork barbecue, chicken intenstine, and pork liver cubes, cooked and gently roasted on a charcoal grill. Of course, if you’re thirsty, there’s also sago't gulaman, pandan, pineapple juice, and buko juice.

Cheap

For Syneth, a teenager who loves to buy street foods, she really gets her money’s worth when she eats at the tusok-tusok corner.

"Sobrang sulit po kasi ng kwek-kwek, kikiam, pati fishball dun, hindi tinitipid yung coating na harina, tapos crunchy lahat sila. Bukod dun ate, unli sauce pa tapos mura. Diyes tatlo nga lang yung kwek-kwek, o di ba bongga?"

(The kwek-kwek, kikiam, and fishball there are really worth it, because they are very generous with the flour coating so it’s thick and crunchy. Apart from that, the sauce is unlimited. You can get three kwek-kwek for only ten pesos. Amazing, right?)

Nick Jay Tumamao, a carpenter patronising the stall said he buys because the food is ready- to-eat and he has no time to cook on his own. He also added that he really enjoys big serving portions offered in the stall.

Dangerous

According to a research article about the young consumers of street food, 2.5 billion people around the world consume street foods. This high demand and consumption must raise the relevance of food safety because multiple research has proved that certain bacterial contaminations of street food may be fatal to the body.

Moreover, Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said in an interview "we should really avoid street food because flies swarm on these."

He then explained that bacteria-carrying flies will most likely contaminate the food, which can cause intestinal problems, such as E-coli infections, typhoid fever, and even hepatitis.

Street food may be cheap, but due to the risk of contamination and disease, there might be a higher price to pay in the long-term.