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Turn a corner or take a stroll across a market in India, one thing you will find in common is a vendor selling pani puri (or puchka, gol gappe). The most popular Indian street food is everyone’s favourite. Ask any chaat enthusiast, and they will tell you how their taste buds experience nirvana the moment they deep-fried puri shells, filled with a spiced potato and chickpea mixture and tangy water, explode in their mouths.
Video Credit: Masala Kitchen/ YouTube
From North to South, East to West, gol gappe are sold everywhere in India. However, is indulgence in pani puri worth the risk to your health? It’s not just monsoon when experts suggest reducing consumption of street food but the grim reality of how the food is cooked and served paints a concerning image.
It is not just how the vendor feeds pani puri to you but also the ingredients he uses to make it. The most pressing issue is the use of unhygienic water and synthetic colours used to create its tempting tangy solution responsible for making foodies drool.
22% Pani Puri Samples In Karnataka Found Unfit For Human Consumption
The recent story has left every foodie surprised by the fact that of all the pani puri samples collected in Karnataka, 22% of those failed to meet the food safety standards. Of 260 samples, 41 had carcinogenic substances and 18 were declared unfit for human consumption. Many were found contaminated with chemicals like sunset yellow, brilliant blue, and tartrazine.
But this is not the first report that has raised questions on food safety in Karnataka. For the past few months, the food safety officers have been checking restaurants, investigating food samples, and presenting reports that have made foodies wish they should give up eating outside once and for all.
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Pani Puri Safety Issues Across India
If you are from any other part of India thanking your stars that you are not indulging in pani puri sold in Karnataka, do a quick search on Google or observe local vendors around you. Only last week, the Times Of India reported a man mashing potatoes with his feet for filling gol gappa. In April 2024, street food items like pani puri were the cause of rising cholera cases in Bengaluru because the vendors were using contaminated water.
In July 2022, it was found that vendors might be using dirty water to prepare the spicy solution for pani puri which was among the leading causes of typhoid. In May 2022, a report indicated hundreds of people in Madhya Pradesh developing symptoms of food poisoning after eating pani puri.
Why Your Favourite Pani Puri Is A Health Hazard?
With street food items in India, hygiene has always been the biggest concern. With water bodies polluted and contamination of food, this concern is ever-growing now. In most cities, vendors have reported that they do not have access to clean water. If they buy packaged water bottles to prepare the mixture, they will have to bear the cost because customers are unwilling to pay extra for hygiene.
Many vendors now wear polythene gloves when they mesh potatoes or serve pani puri. But when they take off the glove for a short while, they will keep it on the contaminated surface or counter and put it back on (thus, the entire purpose of wearing the gloves goes to waste).
Many people would still make peace with the fact that the person was wearing gloves at least, but in many cities, you will witness pani puri sellers standing nearby sewage feeding people without any gloves. Not to mention, many put their hands elbow-deep to swirl the water before filling the crunchy puffed puris.
In summer, they would wipe off the sweat with their hands and put them into the water solution (the same that customers ask for second or third servings). If you can look beyond your love for pani puri, you must have observed vendors adding ice to water, the same block of ice that they picked from a contaminated surface, washing it with water (kept in a bucket with brown or grey deposits on the surface and dunk it inside the pani puri solution. If that does not lead to water and foodborne illnesses what will?
Video Credit: Chef Ranveer Brar/ YouTube
Compare it to samosas or kachoris now. Even the revered brands have chaat stalls outside their outlet. You can see how people operate and use the same oil for deep-frying they have been using since morning. By the evening, it turns black, and it does not come as a surprise if the next day begins with deep-frying snacks in the same black sludge. The open counters will have food stuck on the surface and spilled oil trapping dirt, dust, and flies.
The gory details are nothing new that might leave you feeling yucky or upset to the core of your stomach. These are the details you must have observed but have often ignored but nothing beats the craving for street food as much as Rs 10-20 per plate for pani puris.
However, is it just the food vendors who are to be blamed for the questionable hygiene? Shouldn’t it be a larger issue around a clean water supply, accessibility to hygienic products, food inflation, and awareness of the potential risks of selling and consuming contaminated food?
