Eat To Live, or Live To Eat?

I’m one of those lucky ones, the ones who can eat as much as I want to but never gain an ounce of fat. It’s a blessing most of the time mainly because I don’t ever have to go on any kind of a diet much to the envy of my sister who constantly has to watch her weight! (Although there are certain times I wish I did put on some weight.) Anyway, since I don’t’ have to be “weight conscious” all the time I tend to try out different types of food whenever I go out. In short I don’t stick only to home cooked food.

 I’m sure every one of you DO eat from various restaurants, cafes & fast food outlets as well. Having to spend 8 hours per day (and sometimes even more) at the hospitals & the university, everyone of us have had that need to buy a fish bun from the canteen, a “wadei” from the hospital mess, a packet of rice or a “koththu”  from the nearby boutique or even a packet of Milo from the grocery around the corner! Not to forget all those “high school reunions” which typically means a bunch of friends gathering at some food place, or those weddings we look forward to simply because of all the good food! So basically, all of us eat, A LOT, all the time..

All these shops, restaurants, cafes are very attractively laid out to catch our eyes. (However I guess when are stomachs are rumbling the attractive lay out doesn’t matter to some of us!) But did you ever stop to think whether these foods are actually prepared hygienically? Or do you take it as granted that the outer appearance says it all? Did you think whether the fish used in the fish bun was washed properly or just cut up & made in to the curry 2 days ago? What if the person who prepared the dough for the bun was having a cold & had been sneezing in to it? I know it’s not a pleasant thought at all, & most of you must be like, “Eeeww…” when you think about them. Honestly I haven’t always wondered about the preparation of the food, except at certain instances of course.

Come to think of it, I’m sure none of us who visit a fast food outlet such as some of our favorites around Nugegoda, would give a second thought about these facts. I mean, you wouldn’t be thinking whether the delicious pizza you’re eating, was made in a clean kitchen, using clean utensils right? We take ultimate measures in preparing clean food at home, but how do we know that everything that we eat from a restaurant is equally fit to consume?

Therefore it’s evident; when it comes to food hygiene we rarely think of it. If the presentation is “catchy” or if the restaurant is a reputed, we would just eat whatever we feel like, without giving it a thought as to how it was cooked & served.

Day 10 of the clerkship appointment gave me a whole new perceptive about the food we eat! It was the food inspection along with the PHI. We were taken to Viduravi Bakery & family restaurant, a few minutes drive from the MOH office.

The briefing by the PHI beforehand amazed me. Quite frankly I never knew before, the extent to which food hygiene is maintained in the country. The PHIs certainly go into a great deal of trouble just to ensure that what we eat is fit for human consumption. They have taken up the entire responsibility of ensuring food hygiene in the area. Each and every shop, bakery, tea shop, grocery, restaurant, fast food outlet in the area comes under direct supervision of the PHI. He has to visit every one of them, inspect every aspect & grade them accordingly in order to maintain the required standards. This indeed is a time consuming task. The kitchen, stores, baking area, food serving area has to be inspected. Accordingly, there are a set of rules & standards that should be lawfully maintained by every owner of such a place. It’s the PHI’s duty to make sure that they are met.

Fortunately the restaurant we visited was quite well maintained, pleasant to dine in, the kitchen was clean, many of the hygienic measures were taken. The utensils used were clean & washed properly. The workers were clean, bakery was built according to the standards set, and the stores were well maintained. Apart from a few flaws which the PHI pointed out, the rest was up to standard. According to the grading system this restaurant received a A grade.

During the drive back to the faculty, I couldn't help but wonder, what grade would the canteen in our faculty receive if it was inspected!

eye-catching display of cakes

The restaurant we visited

This visit made me realize that there are many aspects to be thought about, when it comes to production & storage of food. The service rendered by the MOH, and PHIs are certainly invaluable. They have to carry out these tasks amidst numerous challenges. I personally feel that they should be appreciated more since they go in to a great extent to consider every single detail & ensure our well being & our health. If it weren’t for such measures, the medical wards in our hospitals would be filled with patients with diarrhea for sure!

I’m also sure that most if not all of us have had maybe an incident of food poisoning. I, myself have heard some of my batch mates reasoning it out as “ issaraha kade fish bun eka kaala thamai….”

Many of these shops & restaurants run solely for the purpose of profit gaining. Therefore maintaining proper hygienic measures might be taking a back seat most of the time.

But the PHIs & MOH work hard to make sure that it’s not as such.

Whether we eat to live or live to eat, food is one of our fundamental human needs.

 As Norman Borlaug once said,
“Civilization as it is known today could not have evolved, nor can it survive, without an adequate food supply”

Dinithi Herath

23/08/2012

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