August 19, 2002	Monday	Jamadi-us-Saani 9, 1423

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RAWALPINDI, Aug 18: Hundreds of small restaurants in the city are selling unhygienic food due to the apathy of authorities concerned.

Thousands of poor and middle class people risk their health in consuming low-quality food available at these restaurants due to their financial constraints.

Visits to such restaurants in Cantonment, Murree Road, Raja Bazaar, Committee Chowk, Waris Khan, Pirwadhai and Dhok Kala Khan, revealed the magnitude of the problem. 

A majority of customers at such eateries are students or servants living away from their homes. Although reasonably priced, the food available there lack in quality, causing diseases in its consumers.

From the plates and glasses to the furniture and from the material used in preparing food to the water presented  to consumers, these hotels are anything but health- friendly. While stale meat and vegetables and cheap-brand Gee cause cardiovascular problems, abundant use of chilies causes gastrointestinal problems like ulcer and piles.

Kitchens of these hotels are dirty to say the least. A majority are located at roadside with no safety measures to save the food from dust and flies. The staffers, from cooks to waiters and  from managers to dish-washers, do not know anything about hygiene.

Mohammad Ishfaq, who now prepares his own meal after undergoing surgery for piles, said these restaurants had made thousands ill.

Another youth said it was difficult for their parents to meet the skyrocketing expenses of their education. How could he think of following tastes and choices in food, he said and added, people like him only thought about filling their stomachs.

Almost  everybody coming out of these  hotels was  not satisfied with what he had eaten.

In our country, people  are  totally ignorant of the rights of consumers, said a student.

These hotels are mushrooming as there is no licence required for opening an eatery.  There are no prescribed  standards either. There is  no criteria for cooks. Anybody who cannot find any other job becomes a cook after washing utensils or cutting vegetables for a month or two.

The Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) does not bother to carry out regular inspections of these restaurants, said a consumer. They are only used to following the orders from higher authorities who, however, never eat from these restaurants and know little about the conditions there, he added.