E-coli found in road side food

Mumbaikars may have to think twice before eating the roadside snacks like vadapav, panipuri or bhelpuri this monsoon. A staggering 92 per cent of ice samples at these roadside food stalls and vendors have been found to be containing the deadly Escherichia coli bacteria. In addition to this, 26 per cent water samples are also found to have E-coli, which causes serious intestinal infections.

From the 948 ice samples collected by the BMC from various food stalls and vendors across 24 wards, 870 samples (amounting to 92 per cent) were found to have E-coli, which is known to cause diseases like gastroenteritis and diarrhoea.

The percentage of E-coli in ice samples collected from as many as nine wards – B (Dongri, Mandvi), C (Marine Lines, Bhuleshwar), D (Malabar Hill, Girgaum), F/North (Matunga, Sion), G/North (Dadar, Mahim), K/East (Andheri East), R/South (Kandivali), N (Ghatkopar) and Mulund (T) – was 100 per cent, which meant all samples in these wards had E-coli. Of the 476 water samples collected, 126 samples were found containing the bacteria.

In an attempt to prevent water-borne diseases during monsoon, civic chief Ajoy Mehta has asked to intensify the drive against roadside food stalls in the city. In the drive conducted in May, the BMC inspected several ice sellers, hotels and bars, fruit juice centres, sugar cane juice stalls, dairies, sweet shops, ice gola vendors, lassi and chaas vendors and fast food centres in the city. Ice and water samples from 552 shops and 2,995 food hawkers were examined during the drive.

Taking a serious note of this, the BMC has decided to take strict action against the vendors, from whom the E-coli affected samples were collected. During the drive, 1,129 kg of sweets, 4,565 kg of food items, 4,818 litre of beverages were destroyed.