Indian street food: why does it have to be so dirty?

[uneng]

Probably everyone has already been suggested by youtube lots of videos displaying indian dishes or indian street food being prepared by different chefs. The point in common among the videos is the lack of hygiene.

Why does it have to be like that? Is it part of the culture? Don't people get diseased and die from bacteria by eating these dishes?

Isn't anything like epidemic control agents to demand minimum hygiene from those workers?

There are many people from India on this forum, so they might help bringing accurate answers on this matter.

[Vod]

Why does it have to be like that? Is it part of the culture? Don't people get diseased and die from bacteria by eating these dishes?

It was part of the culture 1/10th the population ago.  Culture needs to catch up.   :/  Why do you think Indians like curry?  The spices used (turmeric, garlic, ginger, and chili) inhibit the growth of bacteria and viruses in the body, boost the immune system, and aid in digestion.

[programmer3666]

Well, I have never actually been to India, but I watch a lot of Indian movies and from what I have seen in those movies, street food and vendors seem to be a big part of everyday life there. It always looks like people really enjoy it and it’s kind of part of their culture and social lifestyle. Although, I can’t really speak on the hygiene aspect from a factual point of view. Videos online can sometimes focus more on the extreme cases for views, so it might not represent everything accurately. And since locals keep eating from these places regularly, I assume there are many vendors that do maintain acceptable standards.

[Hispo]

I am not from India, but it has become a common meme and theme to tag India as a very hellish place where there is little hygene when comes to their street food vendors and also in their town streets in general.

It was also a very common meme not long ago the fact an important percentage of India's living in towns and small cities defecate on the ground, in literal streets, instead of using a Toilet.

I remember a documentary film about how there was a beach on india which was exclusively used by people defecate.

I would also like to know opinions and points of view from people in India, so they can tell us whether all this is an exaggeration.

[Creeper0]

I am not a resident of India, but Indian memes may not be unknown to the world. A large part of the Indian population loves street food and a major source of income has become this street food. There is no problem in that, but their ignorance about health should be a big cause for concern. But we do not see much response from the Indian government and Indian citizens.

I myself do not understand whether it is a part of their culture or this uncleanliness has entered their bloodstream? I will blame the buyers more than the people selling on the streets, why do they buy and eat such unclean and bad food with such money? Even their environment is unfit for living, not the whole of India, but such a picture in most places. They should take action on this very soon. Increased population is not a big problem in this regard, rather government action and people's ignorance are the main problems of India. They have some other problems which we often see, exaggeration in religion / provocative behavior in politics / disrespecting others through movies etc.

[tsaroz]

It's both lack of civil sense and authorities failure to implement proper laws. China was not much different 20 years ago but they with a strict law has raised a generation of civil and moral youth and a better quality of food and overall hygiene.

Indians are proud of doing all the wrong things and their society accepts it. When the people who asks for proper hygiene are ridiculed, you can't expect to move forward. India is changing too but the pace is very slow.

[Fiatless]

Some of these videos look unbelievable. One will begin to wonder if the food was prepared for humans. I think the hygiene standard is accepted within that location since many people still patronize them. Another reason why people patronize them is that these street vendors offer very cheap food. This practice could be seen as a failure by the government.  Some of these food vendors should have been sanctioned since they are serving poison instead of food.

[Kelward]

I know that the population of India, is explosive being the world's most populated country and perhaps their government is having a hard time controlling the population explosion but this is not a good reason for the rural people to be unhygienic. China, is almost as populated as India but I don't think that their citizens are these unhygienic, frankly it doesn't speak good of India as a country. Their government really must make efforts to be sensitizing it's citizens about the importance of hygiene and put in place tough penalties for defaulters. When you watch indian films they don't portray these negative aspects of their inner societies, thanks to social media nobody can hide the realities on ground anywhere.

[mu_enrico]

My "theory" is that it's a mix of many things: YouTube content creators finding the worst examples, combined with dense population and poor hygiene in certain areas. I don't believe most street food sellers are like that. Anyway, I've heard of similar issues in China, where they use uncommon meat or cardboard to make meatballs and stuff, but I don't think that applies to most of the population. Here in Indonesia, there are also many dirty "secrets" like "poisonous tofu", search it on YouTube

Bottom line is, it depends on what the intention of the video is. The creator can pick and choose certain stories, but you have to be careful not to paint all street vendors as dirty.

[Agbamoni]

My social media feed is in sync with this subforum. A few minutes ago, I watched a disgusting video of a roadside food vendor using dirty water to cook. Out of curiosity, I commented, asking the poster whether this was for content or real.

I really need to know, in case anyone has the answer here. Is this clickbait content, or is this happening in India? Logically, no human in their right mind is supposed to use water from the gutter to cook.

[passwordnow]

I think that I've read something about their government that have also warned those street food vendors that they need to be presentable and clean.

My "theory" is that it's a mix of many things: YouTube content creators finding the worst examples, combined with dense population and poor hygiene in certain areas. I don't believe most street food sellers are like that.

Same thing for me, I don't believe that it's generally dirty. They're choosing the areas where they can use it for their contents. It's not only specific in India that has those chosen places that have dirty street food. It's just being used and romanticized although it cannot be denied that when someone watches it, that gives the taboo that the viewers think that it's entirely the whole place there is like that. These contents have overly exposed it and they do it for the clout and engagement.

[Kiddo15]

It's really alarming when I see how dirty indian street foods are, I don't want to believe it's a culture thing because this kind of behavior enhances dangerous bacteria's. I haven't been to India before but from what I see from the social media on their street food, makes me feel differently. I read from social media one time a ago when a foreigner was convinced to eat indian street foods that was spicy, after few hours the guy started having diarrhea, and he was later admitted at the hospital. I believe for locals, they are immune to any reaction, as their system is used to it, but a strangers should just totally avoid most indian street foods.