Mumbai street food vendors ordered to wear gloves
Detailed view of the popular food snack vada pav, a sandwich made with a potato that’s been mashed, battered, deep-fried and laced with green chili peppers.
This might be the end of Delhi Belly — at least in Mumbai.
According to a new Food Safety Act, hawkers, food vendors and temporary stall owners must follow minimum standards of food safety or pay a maximum fine of 100,000 rupees (about $2500).
"Small-time food stalls, vegetable and fruit vendors and even big-time restaurants – all will have to mandatorily follow basic hygiene rules such as wearing an apron, gloves, using clean utensils and potable water," Satej Patil, minister of state for Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), said Monday, according to the Times of India.
The paper quoted Sharad Rao, leader of the Mumbai Hawkers' Union, as saying, "The new rule is nothing but one more method of extorting money from the poor."