Pani puri is the favourite street snack for many of us. While we all love its tangy flavour, there are certain bad habits of some pani puri vendors about which we all complain, like picking noses and itching and not washing hands. While these are enough to give us ‘Ewww’ feels, there are some grosser facts about the snack which might straightaway make you throw up. But they actually happen under the radar. We thought of sharing some of these facts with y’all.
1. The Pani Puri Dough Is Kneaded Using Bare Feet
The pani puri dough requires a lot of kneading and it isn’t easy to be carried out by hand. So, makers often use bare feet for kneading the dough. What’s worse is that we cannot even guarantee whether the feet are washed or not. And that’s unhygienic.
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2. Some Pani Puri Vendors Collect Water From Public Toilets
A sting operation was carried out in Pune, which revealed that many pani puri vendors collected the water used in pani puri from a local public toilet. A popular pani puri vendor in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur also came under bad light for mixing toilet water into his pani puri. In a viral video, the street vendor was caught filling a can with toilet water. And then the vendor mixed the toilet water in his pani puri.
3. Pani Puris Have Been Found To Contain E.Coli Bacteria And Coliform Bacteria
Studies have revealed that pani puris from famous places in Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai contained large amounts of E.coli bacteria. Also, pani puri samples collected from Delhi contained around 2400 coliform bacteria, a number which is far higher than the normal count of 50.
4. A Pani Puri Vendor Had Mixed Toilet Cleaner In The Pani
An Ahmedabad pani puri vendor faced imprisonment for six months for mixing toilet cleaner in pani puri. When samples of the snack were examined in the food testing laboratory, experts were shocked to find oxalic acid which is used in toilet cleaners. Who knew even this could happen?
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5. A Thane Pani Puri Vendor Was Caught For Peeing Into The Pani Puri Making Vessel
A pani puri vendor in Naupada near Thane was detained for peeing in the same vessel with which he used to pour water on the pani puri. A 19-year old girl, who used to stay near his stall, noticed his gross act and blew the whistle first. She had made a video of his act and had shared it with her family members and neighbours. The vendor was finally taken to the cops.
Also Read: Gujarat Has A Contactless Pani Puri ATM For The Hungry Foodies
Afraid to hit the pani pani stalls now? While these are some proven facts, there have to be some hygienic vendors as well. We need to find out the right kind of sellers. Meanwhile, to avoid the above hassles, you can count on a contactless pani puri ATM: