Is Roadside Food Safe For Your Kids?

The taste of food from roadside vendor is always unexplainable. There is no doubt that the roadside food tastes much better than most of the leading restaurants. Road side shops are a very common sight in many parts of India. In fact, there are a lot of people who are making a living with this business. Another important factor is that they are cheap and ensure a good quantity for the money that they are taking.

With the different kinds of bhelpuri and chaat, your kids will always have a desire to go to one of these stalls and take a bite. The question is how safe are these foods for their body. There is no doubt that an adult’s body will surely be able to handle anything that is thrown at it. Pregnant women need to be careful as this can harm the child and cause further problems.

It is important for parents to know why roadside food is bad for the kids. The following are a few of the reasons why roadside food is not good for health.

Raw Vegetables
Most of these road side food vendors opt for raw vegetables in preparing the food. Of course, the cleaning process will not be known and you will not be too sure of it. The same goes with the fruits that are used. One of the best options for this is to make sure that you are buying dishes which contain cooked vegetables; this is way better than the raw ones.

Cooked food
More than the fruits and the vegetables, care should be taken in the other ingredients that are added to making the food. Like potatoes and beans that are used. You should also know that the boiled potatoes have a better chance to get spoilt. This can be consumed by your child who is not aware of this and can cause an infection in no time. This is one of the reasons why roadside food is not good for health.

Avoid curd and raw milk
There is no way of know the kind of curd that is used to make these chaat items. Even if your child loves curd, it will good to skip anything that has curd on it. Milk shakes or other such drinks that use raw milk should be avoided.

Contaminated water
One of the reasons why roadside food is not good for health is the water that these people use. There is no guarantee on the water and the machines that are used. One look at the machine and you can be sure that it has never been cleaned. This can be a carrier to any number of infections. So, care should be taken to avoid any food or juices that are water based.

Quantity
One of the reasons why roadside food is not good for health is the quantity at which it is consumed. If for any reason, roadside foods are unavoidable, it is advisable to keep the quantity to a minimum. Also, prefer healthy and safe options while selecting the foods.

Remember these tips next time when you feel that irresistible temptation to have your favourite road side dish.