Bacterial aetiology of pani sold with popular street food Chaat in Bengaluru

Procedure: 100 samples of pani purchased from the vendor in a parcel container was transferred to a sterile container of 30 mL capacity. The pani was streaked on MacConkey agar and Samonella Shigella agar and incubated at 37°centigrade overnight. After overnight incubation, the plates of agar were observed for growth. If growth was observed, the isolated colonies were taken up for identifi cation by performing the requisite biochemical reactions. If growth was not observed after overnight incubation, the plates were further incubated for 24 hours. If no growth was observed even on Selenite F broth subcultured plates, the pani was considered sterile and free of aerobic bacteria.


Introduction
Street foods is defi ned as "ready-to-eat foods and beverages prepared and/or sold by vendors and hawkers especially in street and other similar public places" [1].
Food poisoning refers to-Any disease of an infective or toxic nature caused by or thought to be caused by the consumption of food and water [2]. One such food in India is the Pani Puri (Gol Gappa) where in a hollow fried crisp is fi lled with seasoned boiled potato and dipped in a fl avoured water containing tamarind and salt. The pani containing favourable ingredients for the growth of pathogenic bacteria including coliform organisms [3], serve as reservoirs in the spread of infection.
Citation: Satish  Country. The pani containing favourable ingredients for the growth of pathogenic bacteria including coliform organisms [7], serve as reservoirs in the spread of infection. The growth is augmented by the use of contaminated water from unsanitary sources and also by the dipping of the hand of the food handler [8] in the cauldron containing the Pani which could potentially spread the bacterial fl ora into it. Moreover, take away plastic covers fi lled with Pani also serve as a source of infection.

Methodology
The study was conducted in the Department of Microbiology in a tertiary healthcare hospital. Ethical clearance for the study was obtained from the Institutional Ethics Committee prior to the commencement of the study. This was a descriptive study with a sample size of 100 (purposive sampling) completed within a period of 2 Months. Pani collected from chaat vendors was included in the study and chaat food other than pani and vendors not having facility to parcel were excluded from the study.

Procedure of the study
Street vendors within a 10 kilometre radius around the institution were considered for the study. The confi dentiality and anonymity of the vendor and sample collected was

Observation and results
A total of 100 samples were utilised in this Study. The samples were inoculated into MacConkey agar and Salmonella With millions of cases of food borne illnesses annually, unsafe food is a threat to human health and economies, affecting vulnerable and marginalised people, especially women and children, populations affected by confl ict and migrants [4], making travellers diarrhoea the most common travel related infectious illness [5].
An estimated 600 million -almost 1 in 10 people in the world -fall ill after eating contaminated food and 420 000 die every year, resulting in the loss of 33 million healthy life years (DALYs) [6].
The role of street food in the causation of Food Poisoning assumes a great deal of Public Health importance for the

Discussion
Pani puri is a famous street vended food in India. Pani is the fl avoured water containing spices and salt used abundantly with popular Indian street food 'Chaat'. In this study, we aim to identify the contaminating bacteria present in the pani. As the spices and salt are a rather rare source of harbouring coliform bacteria, growth on culture media can be incriminated directly to the water source.
By defi nition, safe and wholesome water must be free     The isolation of the above mentioned organisms is unacceptable by the minimum standards of safe and wholesome drinking water and food safety standards and thus serve as a nidus for infection to the population at risk.
Coliforms bacteria isolated such as Lactose fermenting bacteria Escherichia coli (diarrhoea in infants, children and travellers [9]) and Klebsiella [10], (diarrhoea in Immunocompromised individuals) and Non Lactose fermenting bacteria Citrobacter, Proteus and Non fermentative gram negative bacilli other than Pseudomonas present in a water sample provide a direct evidence of faecal contamination of the pani sample.
As observed in this study, pani laden with pathogenic organisms is not just limited to the street stalls. Established shops and restaurants serving pani claimed to be made from bottled mineral water also contained the same pathogens revealed on culture. This highlights the probability of carrier status in the food handler or the unhygienic preparation methods such as hand dipping into the pani cauldron.
The widespread contamination poses a disease threat to all sections of society irrespective of the socio economic status [11]. However, incomplete access to medical care and lack of essential medicines and oral rehydration solutions predispose the lower strata of society to increased morbidity and mortality. The prevalence of infection and related mortality [12], is also higher in children owing to their low resistance against infections.
In a practical setting, avoidance street vended food by the general population is challenging. Some steps that can be undertaken to ensure food safety such as improving personal hygiene of food handlers, usage of safe drinking water, appropriate preparation techniques and food hygiene, short holding time, usage of clean cutlery, clean parcel containers, identifi cation and treatment of transmissible illness or carrier status in food vendor, building of food safety awareness in vendor, proper sanitation and waste disposal, usage of cooked vegetables, licensing of food stalls/vendors, regular health inspection and establishing legislature regarding street vended food.
Avoidance of high risk food such as street vended food and improperly cooked food and regularising eating pattern [13], play a signifi cant role in preventing oneself from food borne infections. Research and development of an effective vaccine against E.coli [14] and other food borne pathogens assumes high priority particularly in developing nations.
Novel techniques like MALDI-TOF MS [15], Biosensors [16], Nucleic Acid-based Tests (NAT) [17], must be made available to rapidly detect food borne pathogens. Regularised food inspection should be conducted by Health Inspectors to determine compliance [18], with the law and gather evidence for enforcement in cases of noncompliance. Evidence states that the impact of health education intervention [19], on food safety and hygiene [20] and implementing a skill development program [21], in street vendors can prevent traveler's diarrhoea [22] and other food borne illnesses.
The transition from food toxins to food safety [23], is a gradual but yielding process for the safety and development of the nation and all necessary amends must be made to hasten the process.

Future research
The limitations of this research point towards topics to be addressed in the future. Due to the scope of the research undertaken, this study has potential limitations such as the

Conclusion
The isolation of the pathogenic organisms is unacceptable by the minimum standards of safe and wholesome drinking water and food safety standards. The isolated enteric bacteria is incriminated in food poisoning with high mortality and morbidity, particularly in developing nations. Avoidance of street vended food is key to the prevention of food poisoning.
The widespread contamination calls for regularised food inspection and emphasises the need for health education interventions on food safety in both the food handler and the consumer. Research and development of an effective vaccine against food borne pathogens and rapid techniques to detect food contamination will provide an upper hand in the fi ght against food poisoning.