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Dhaka Street Foods Contain Harmful Bacteria, Study Reveals
A recent study has found that popular street foods in Dhaka, including chotpoti, chola-muri, sandwiches, sugarcane juice, aloe vera juice, and mixed salad, are contaminated with harmful bacteria.
The findings were presented at a seminar on Sunday at the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) conference room. Researchers identified the presence of E. coli, Salmonella, and Vibrio bacteria in these widely consumed street foods.
Latiful Bari, head of the Food Nutrition and Agriculture Research Laboratory at the University of Dhaka, presented the alarming results.
The study revealed significant bacterial contamination levels. Each plate of chotpoti contained an average of 72 million E. coli, 750 Salmonella, and 750 Vibrio bacteria. Chola-muri had 740,000 E. coli, 2,000 Salmonella, and 3 million Vibrio bacteria. Sandwiches were found to contain 2,000 E. coli, 2,000 Salmonella, and 1.6 million Vibrio bacteria. Sugarcane juice showed 65,000 E. coli, 17,000 Salmonella, and 13,000 Vibrio bacteria. Aloe vera juice contained 56,000 E. coli, 1.8 million Salmonella, and 14,000 Vibrio bacteria. Mixed salad had 1,800 E. coli, 510 Salmonella, and 300 Vibrio bacteria.
These bacteria are known to cause various stomach diseases, including diarrhea. The study indicated that out of every 10,000 people consuming these street foods, two become ill from E. coli, four from Salmonella, and one from Vibrio bacteria.
Researchers collected 450 samples from street food vendors across 37 regions in Dhaka North and South City Corporations. The contamination was attributed to factors such as contaminated water, dirty towels, unclean hands, and dusty environments.
Latiful Bari highlighted the lack of health and sanitation knowledge among street food vendors as a significant issue. He stressed the need for training vendors and implementing daily monitoring to ensure food safety.
Leaders of the quota reform movement have resolutely refused to negotiate with the government, insisting that their movement will persist until their demands are met.
In a Facebook post, Hasnat Abdullah, a coordinator of the movement, declared, “No discussion through stepping onto blood.”
Asif Mahmud, another prominent leader, echoed this sentiment, stating, “There can be no dialogue with bullets. I would prefer death over this betrayal.”
He further elaborated, “On one side, there are bullets. On the other, there is a call for dialogue. We can’t sit for dialogue while stepping onto the blood of our brothers.”
Earlier, leaders of the quota reform movement accused the government of escalating the law and order situation towards violence, asserting that their movement was peaceful until the government’s intervention.
Vowing to continue their struggle, Asif Mahmud stated, “We will continue our protests till we achieve our demands for reformation of the quota system, reopening of the halls and campuses, making university campuses terror-free, withdrawing political forces from the campuses, and punishing the killers and attackers.”
He added, “The people of the country have encircled those who tried to corner us. No conspiracy will be able to derail our movement.”
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today urged both local and international investors to invest in the extraction of marine resources from Bangladesh’s extensive sea areas.
“In order to fortify the blue economy through the diverse utilization of our marine resources, I call upon local and foreign investors to seize the opportunity to invest in Bangladesh. This will enable us to harness more of our marine resources,” she announced.
The Prime Minister made these remarks during the inauguration of the Bangladesh International Aquaculture and Seafood Show-2024 at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in Dhaka.
She emphasized the importance of adhering to proper standards in the collection, distribution, and processing of fish to boost exports, aiming to make fish the country’s second-largest source of foreign currency.
Sheikh Hasina pointed out that her government has made limited progress in harvesting fish and other sea resources from the deep sea due to a lack of interest from local investors.
“Therefore, we need foreign investment to advance in this area. This is the reality we must face,” she noted.
She also suggested that both local and foreign investors can collaborate in joint ventures or invest separately in this sector to achieve better results.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) has forecasted light to moderate and moderately heavy rainfall or thundershowers, accompanied by temporary gusty winds, across all eight divisions of the country over the next 24 hours, starting from 9 am today.
In its weather bulletin issued this morning, the BMD stated, “Light to moderate rain or thundershowers with temporary gusty wind is expected in a few places over Rangpur, Mymensingh, Chattogram, and Sylhet divisions. Additionally, one or two places in Rajshahi, Dhaka, Khulna, and Barisal divisions may experience similar conditions, with moderately heavy falls anticipated at several locations in Rangpur, Mymensingh, Chattogram, and Sylhet divisions.”
The bulletin also highlighted that the current mild heat wave sweeping across the Rangpur division and the districts of Tangail, Chuadanga, Rajshahi, Pabna, Bogra, and Netrokona may persist.
Daytime temperatures are expected to rise slightly, while nighttime temperatures are likely to remain nearly unchanged throughout the country.
On Wednesday, the highest recorded temperature was 36.7 degrees Celsius, observed in Rajshahi, Rangpur, and Rajarhat. The lowest temperature recorded today was 26.0 degrees Celsius, noted in Bandarban and Teknaf.
Over the last 24 hours, rainfall amounted to 16 mm in Bandarban.
For the capital, the sun will set at 6:48 pm today and rise at 5:21 am tomorrow.
