Street foods are everywhere. Wherever you go, there is always that foods – weird in some ways, exotic in other ways – that can satisfy your cravings or ease the pain of hunger. Or something to try and talk about with your friends and families.
The first time I was out of the country (in 1988 in Thailand), I never dared to eat anything being sold in the streets of Bangkok. At least in the first two days. But on the third day, I did the unthinkable: eating sliced green mango and drinking pineapple juice.
That was my first attempt of eating street foods in another country. Yes, I don’t experiment eating when I am traveling abroad. The reason: I don’t want to experience stomachache or some illnesses that will my trip ending in a fiasco or worse, landing in a hospital.
It was another story in Siem Reap, Cambodia. It was there that I saw some scorpions being grilled. There were also some big spiders that were fried and ready for eating! But the worst of all were the baby snakes (minus the head, of course) that were barbecued.
And so my idea of “balut” as the most exotic street food was totally shattered.
But mind you, street foods are not only common in developing countries. They are also a common sight in industrialized countries. I saw people selling street foods in New York, where I ordered some hot coffee and dough nut.
“Street food is ready-to-eat food or drink sold by a hawker, or vendor, in a street or other public place, such as at a market or fair,” Wikipedia states. “It is often sold from a portable food booth, food cart, or food truck and meant for immediate consumption.”
Most street foods are classed as both finger food and fast food, and are cheaper on average than restaurant meals. In a 2007 research conducted for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), it was found that 2.5 billion people eat street food every day.
In the Philippines, selling street foods is becoming an important economic activity as it feeds hungry millions and provides employment and income to 80-90% of the country’s urban poor, according to a study done by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI).
“There’s nothing like the street food business: small capital, convenient location, no space rentals and sometimes no power or water bills to pay for,” wrote Ronald M. Henson in article which appeared in The S&T Post, a publication of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
There are many types of foods sold in the street and among the favorites are: “kwek-kwek” (made of quail eggs covered in orange dough and deep fried), “isaw” (chicken intestine put on a stick and grilled), fish balls (minced fish rolled into balls), “balut” (pre-hatched duck egg), “betamax” (a cubed, curdled blood of a chicken), “adidas” (the marinated grilled chicken’s feet), “atay” (marinated and barbequed liver of chicken), and helmet (the grilled head of a chicken).
Other fillers of hungry stomachs are: “maruya” (a combination of bananas and flour, deep fried until golden brown), “kikiam” (made of ground pork and vegetables wrapped in bean curd sheets then deep-fried until golden), “calamares” (deep-fried battered squid rings), “mais” (corn on a cob, but it could also be salted boiled corn), and green mango with “bagoong” (unripe mango on a stick with a salty, fermented sauce or paste made from small shrimps or fish).
For drinks, the following are common: buko juice (coconut juice that can be drunk directly from the buko itself), “iskrambol” (a simple shake with artificial flavors), and sago and “gulaman” (a refreshingly cold drink made out of tapioca and jelly).
Meals are always served at home or in restaurants. So, how did street foods come into the picture? In the olden days, street foods were known as “peasant foods” or eaten only by poor people.
Paul John Vesagas, in one of his columns in a regional paper, gives us this glimpse from the past: “Although the exact origin of street food remains undocumented and no consensus exists among researchers and experts alike, some sociologists suggest that in the Philippines, the practice of eating the so-called ‘peasant food’ started during the Spanish colonial era.
“At the peak of the darkest period of Spanish colonization, Filipinos were not only stripped off with their dignity and morals but also were deprived of their basic physiologic commodity – a decent meal,” Vesagas wrote.
There were some historical notes that said Filipinos, who were enslaved by the abusive colonizers, were fed with leftovers – internal organs of dressed chicken or pork – as the edible meat goes to the masters.
Now, going back to the present time. According to Henson, the rapid increase of urban population in the country created a huge market for street foods. This is especially true among the low-income groups which have no time to cook their own meals.
In some instances, working housewives would resort to buying street foods as most of them lack proper cooking facilities. “And with increasing cost of fuel, the only immediate option is to turn to street foods,” wrote Henson.
As well as being cheap, street foods can also be nutritious. A study in Calcutta, India, found that an average meal contained about 30 grams of protein, 15 grams of fat and 180 grams of carbohydrates.
Local authorities, international organizations and consumer associations are increasingly aware of the socioeconomic importance of street foods but also of their associated risks. “With the increasing pace of globalization and tourism,” FAO said in a statement, “the safety of street food has become one of the major concerns of public health, and a focus for governments and scientists to raise public awareness.”
A study conducted by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) a couple of years back discovered that most of the samples taken from the street foods sold in four urban centers – in Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Laguna and University of the Philippines Diliman campus in Quezon City – did not pass quality standards.
It must be recalled that the 1990 cholera outbreak in Metro Manila was caused by “pansit” (rice noodles) and mussel soup bought from street vendors. The outbreak of hepatitis A in Masangkay Street in Sta. Cruz, Manila in 1993 was attributed to eating “bola-bola” (fish balls) sold by street vendors.
Studies conducted by FNRI showed that microorganism contamination of street foods are mainly due to poor handling and unhygienic practices of both vendors and consumers.
Microbiological findings indicated the presence of coliforms such as Escherichia coli, Enterobacterae aerogenes, and E. cloacae in both barbecued and deep-fried animal by-products. This means that the bacteria load of the selected food samples was rather high, ranging from 240 to 2,400 per gram of food.
A study done by the US-based Equity Policy Center found out that the largest single problem of the street food industry in most of the developing countries is the lack of access to clean water for washing utensils and hands.
“Where clean water is hard to obtain, a single bucket of untreated water might serve throughout the day, a banana leaf floating on top to hide the filth,” the study noted.
“Are street foods boon or bane?” asked Henson. While they are boon to vendors, street foods are also a bane among consumers. Because of this, concerned sectors – especially those selling near school campuses – are compelled to observe proper sanitation and cleanliness with stringent measures to discourage roadside food vendors from selling unsanitary and junk foods to students.
Quoting FNRI, Henson said that “any potential health hazards from street foods can be prevented if we only take the challenges of food quality and safety.”
