Sanitation and Hygiene Condition Analysis

By:

Amanda Celina, Calvin Latu, David Immanuel, Laurensia Christli

FT­3

The preparation and cooking process

The preparation table was directly exposed to air and dirt without any covering. Since it

was located on the side of the road, cars and motorcycles must have been passing

through the cart all the time, bringing dirt to the equipments and to the cart itself. The

seller used his bare hands to pick up raw noodles from the drawer and cut vegetables

without washing his hands first. The noodles and the vegetables were then put into a pot

of boiling water. However, the turbidity of the water indicates that the water has been

used over and over again. There were even residual pieces of noodles from previous

cooking, resulting in mushy­textured pieces of noodles to be carried in the next serving

bowl. Even more, the seller also ladled the turbid water from the pot into the serving

bowl as soup. The overall process of preparation and cooking can be considered as

unhygienic.

The hygiene of the seller

After the customer was finished with his meal, the seller directly put the used bowl on

the road under his cart without washing it immediately. The seller received the money,

and we doubt he will ever wash his hands to do the next preparation of the meal.

Actually money is one of the media to spread germs and cause illness to people. By that,

the next customers may probably get ill because of the microbes which come from the

money. Moreover, after preparing, the seller sit on the sidewalk and played with his

mobile phones. Mobile phones carry 10 times more bacteria than most toilet seats. Thus,

it could be a potential health hazard, believing that the seller will not wash his hands.

The hygiene of the equipments

As we can see the equipments used to prepare and cook the noodles is not very

hygienic, and we can say that it is rather dirty. The seller did not rinse and wash the

noodle strainer and spoon properly and worthily. Besides, the seller use the same

disposable chopsticks to cook. It is very bad for our health as the microbes can stick and

accumulate on the equipment. Without proper cleaning, it may contain pathogenic

microbes such as Escherichia coli that can make our stomach ache. The noodle strainer

is also rusty because it is used in water for several times. Besides, it is not clean and also

not dried properly as the seller directly hung the strainer back beside the cart after

rinsing the noodles. The strainer handle is made of bamboo, and seems like it has been

used for about one or two years. We think it is very unhygienic and can cause foodborne

illness. The other equipments that become a concern is the towel used to rub the spoon

and the bowl. The towel looks very dirty; the seller put the towel in the place that is not

exposed to sunlight. The sunlight may help the towel become dry and help kill some

microbes. The seller also forgot to put the towel back in place and it was exposed to the

dirt and ash from the road.

The storage of the ingredients

First, the cart does not have refrigerator or something that can prevent dirty ash and dirt

from the road to contaminate and also flies that fly around the cart. The dirt can easily

stick in the noodles, vegetables and the cooked chicken for the side dish. In the

temperature like that, microbes can easily grow in the main ingredients, especially in the

chicken. The microbes can cause the foodborne illness and stomach ache. It is very

vulnerable to be attacked by mesophilic microbes that grow in 20­40 degree Celsius.

The mesophilic microbes are a very dangerous zone because most of the pathogenic

microbes are able to live and grow well at that

zone. The seller also use the water for cooking

the noodle several times (it was last seen to be

grayish color) and the seller put the dirty water

in the bowl several ladle.

Second, the bottle used for the seasoning oil and ketchup is a used bottle from syrup.

There are also a pretty big hole in the bottle cap, and the seller seems does not care

about it. It is also unhygienic and very dirty because the bottles make contact with the

surrounding air and dirt as nothing cover the holes. The holes also make the flies, which

may carry unfavorable microbes, to easily contaminate the seasoning oil and the

ketchup. The seller seems does not care about having a covering for the bottle. When

people consume the noodles, the microbes can go inside from the bottles to the body

and cause foodborne illness.

The hygiene and sanitation of serving bowl

As we have mentioned above, the seller did not

rinse and wash the bowl, the seller left them

under the cart and looks like that he intentionally

leave it there. The cart does not have a bucket or

flowing water for washing the dishes. We also

have assumption that the seller only throw out

the left outs on the bowl and rinse it with water.

It is very unsanitary and can cause stomach ache

as we eat from dirty utensils. Besides, if the seller do not wash the dishes properly, the

dishes can be contaminated by the previous customers who have severe illness. Thus,

the next customer may be also get ill.

The cart and the facilities given

The cart looks okay, well painted, installed on a

motorcycle, sturdy enough to survive from rain or wind.

But the thing is, the sanitary level is below standard in our

opinion. There is no sufficient covering from the food

processing table to the outer that can make the table to be

spared with road pollutant considering the cart was located

on the side of the road. No flowing water and soap was

seen to wash the

dishes and food

processing table. No knife to cut the vegetables (he

cut it with his bare hand). The small cabinet also

has a direct contact with the raw noodle and

vegetables which is disgusting. Besides, the seller

did not organize the cabinet well. It is very untidy.

The small falling dried noodles are everywhere. In

addition, the stove is installed just 30 cm far from

the gas tube, which is not in a very safe distance. A

small accident could destroy this cart eventually.

As we have mentioned above, the seller is using a

cart to sell noodles beside the road. He does not provide any facilities for customers.

Certainly, there are no sinks or flowing water to wash hands. Moreover, the seller does

not provide seats or even tables. Customers have to stand or sit on the sidewalk and hold

their own bowls while eating, which is considered as dirty and not comfortable.