DigitEye India Fact Checkers
A video which claims that street food in Delhi contains faecal matter, dog meat, and rotten vegetables is going viral on social media. The video claims that research was conducted by the Institute of Hotel Management, Catering and Nutrition, proving that street food in Delhi is contaminated.
It also mentions that the flour used in making momos consists of a banned substance that helps it look white. It also stated that the chutneys that is served with momos used rotten tomatoes. The 1:19 minute-long video has made people sceptical of street food.
Digiteye India also received a request to fact-check this viral video on WhatsApp.
FACT CHECK
We used the name of the institute that was mentioned in the video and conducted a keyword search on Google. The research paper was published by the Institute Of Hotel Management, Catering & Nutrition in 2015. It was published in Volume V, Issue II of the institute’s journal. Titled Microbiological Analysis of Street Vended Food in West Delhi, the paper was authored by three people – Arpita Sharma (visiting faculty at the institute), Himani Bhardwaj (M.Sc student at the institute), and Indu Ravi (Assistant Regional Director of IGNOU, Jaipur).
The research aimed to study the hygienic conditions of street food vendors and the microbial quality of street foods. The paper mentioned that for microbial analysis they used samples from five street food vendors and five franchises as well. The samples were chosen from West Delhi. Their findings revealed that vegetable momos and non-veg momos from street food vendors had a high amount of bacteria. It also revealed that when it comes to franchises, burgers, non-veg momos, veg-momos, and golgappa had the “presence of coliform” which “indicated faecal contamination of the processing water as well as the prevailing unhygienic conditions related to the location of food preparation.”
Coliform is a bacteria that is present in the digestive tract of humans and animals and it is found in their faeces. The 2015 study also found that the vendors who were studied worked without any protective cover. The carts were not cleaned and neither were they protected from dust. It also revealed that the dustbins were not covered and the vendors did not wash their hands after serving or preparing the food.
Their findings also found the presence of Enterotoxi-genic E. coli (ETEC) which is associated with traveller’s diarrhoea. It also mentioned that poor hygiene can lead to typhoid, dysentery or cholera. It revealed that the normal Most Probable Number (MPN) of coliform bacteria is 50 or less as per the Central Pollution Control Board. But in the samples that they had studied MPN was found to be over 2,400 in burger, vegetarian and non-vegeterian momos and other food items.
India Today had also reported on this research in May 2015. Speaking to India Today, Dr Shobha Broor, microbiologist at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) had said, “This is a matter of great concern. I would never eat street food after reading this report.” After the publication of this research, the FSSAI had written to the Delhi’s food safety commissioner to check the quality of street food items.
The research was restricted to West and Central Delhi. The claim is, hence, false.
CLAIM: A viral video claims that street food in Delhi contains dog meat and faecal matter.
CONCLUSION: The research that was conducted by the Institute of Hotel Management, Nutrition & Catering found the presence of coliform in food samples that they had collected from West Delhi. But they did not find dog meat in their research. Coliform is a bacteria that is present in the digestive system of animals and humans and it is found in their faeces.
RATING: Misleading — 
