With street-vended foods at least equaling restaurant-prepared and home-cooked food in their popularity in Guyana and elsewhere, they have, understandably, become associated with significant health risks arising out of the sheer frequency of their consumption in circumstances where their food-safety ‘credentials’ are, for the most part, unknown.
Working families, including children in their school setting have come to rely increasingly on street-vended foods and the popularity of these offerings extend into the conventional ‘night life’ and ‘hangout’ cultures.
For these reasons the global food industry has paid increasing attention to the safety considerations associated with street-vended foods with issues like storage without refrigeration for protracted periods and the consequential risk of microbial growth, access to clean water for washing produce, hands, or utensils, and appropriate toilet facilities coming into sharper focus.