The irresistible attraction of shopping carts outside the school gate
As soon as the school bell rang, students rushed out to surround street vendors selling snacks in front of a secondary school in Hanoi. Right in front of the school gate, there were three street vendors selling fried fish balls, chicken cakes, and soft drinks, each packed with students amidst smoke, dust, and car horns.
The whole street in front of the school gate is filled with the fragrant smell of food at around 5pm. Some students eat there, but others buy take-out food and wait for their parents to pick them up, then sit on the bus and enjoy it as an afternoon snack.
Not only this location but most areas around schools in Hanoi have similar situations. At 4:30 p.m., in front of the gate of the University of Natural Sciences – VNU, carts selling “dirty skewers” also attracted a large number of students.
“Snacks at the school gate are very cheap, delicious and diverse in flavor. After school, we are often very hungry, so these street vendors right outside the school gate are like a savior,” said NVT, an 11th grade student.
Meanwhile, TPA, a 12th grade student, said, "Snacks bought at the school gate taste better than those at home, probably because I get to eat them with friends."
Fried foods, processed on the spot or prepackaged dry foods are priced from only 2,000 - 10,000 VND, very suitable for students' budgets. 2,000 for small skewers and 8,000 - 10,000 VND for large skewers, the price of soft drinks is only about 10,000 VND for a cup, and prepackaged products are only priced from 2,000 - 5,000 VND. Low prices are one of the reasons why school gate snacks attract students even though no one guarantees food safety.
When asked about the origin and quality of these foods, street vendors only answered vaguely that these items are popular with students and are reasonably priced, so they are imported to sell, and "people eat them all the time and have not seen any problems with them."
Skewers are piled on stainless steel plates without any cover, directly exposed to the dusty environment, especially in crowded areas such as school gates. Cooking oil is reused many times for different types of food. The vendors directly process the food with their bare hands to ensure speed of service, everything from choosing the food to serving it only takes a few minutes, perfectly meeting the needs of students for quick meals.
In addition, many young diners choose to buy pre-fried food that has been marinated with many layers of dirt for a long time.
Ms. Thu, a parent of a student at Nguyen Huy Tuong Secondary School, shared: "I am very worried because I cannot control whether my child buys snacks outside or not. I myself do not give my child money to buy snacks, but he may eat them with his friends, and this makes me very worried."
Dangers from school gate food
According to nutrition expert Nguyen Trang Nhung - Officer of the National Institute of Nutrition, using food of unknown origin and improper preservation poses many potential risks to children's health, especially digestive diseases such as food poisoning and diarrhea.
In addition, street vendors often prepare food on-site, in unsanitary conditions, creating favorable conditions for pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella, E.coli, Campylobacter, and viruses such as Norovirus to thrive, causing serious infectious diseases. In the long term, unsanitary food can also cause dangerous chronic diseases such as cardiovascular, liver, and kidney diseases.
What is even more alarming is that drugs are increasingly being cleverly disguised as attractive foods such as candy, soft drinks, and cakes to reach young people. Just one accidental use can cause unpredictable consequences. Therefore, according to Ms. Nguyen Thi Trang Nhung, families and schools must pay close attention.
Food safety in schools is an urgent issue, requiring the participation and close coordination of authorities, schools and localities. It is necessary to strengthen inspection, supervision and strict handling of violations. At the same time, tighten the management of food supply sources, immediately eliminate unsanitary sales points around schools to minimize the risk of food poisoning.
Source: https://vov.vn/xa-hoi/do-an-vat-cong-truong-tiem-an-nguy-co-mat-an-toan-post1131033.vov
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