I remember way back in college when I try to taste every street foods that appetizing to my eyes. Oh, correction, any delicious but cheap and affordable, something that you can buy with your Php5 up to Php15, and any snacks that costs higher than that, well, I considered it expensive.
College days, when every penny means something. So while my roommates are opting for noodles (which is cheap up to this days), I choose the affordable sweet taho. A mug of that is enough to energized my morning up to lunch. And, it's super cheap. Taho is made of silken tofu, sago pearls, and a thick sugar syrup. It is a popular breakfast snack commonly peddled by street vendors, especially in Metro Manila. Yes, it is a popular street food.
The pictures below are an example of food being sold in the streets and open spaces in the Philippines and how are these food being sold. Most of this street vendors are ambulant vendors, they can go place to place to sell food, mostly to a place where huge throng of people normally go, like schools, etc.
The thing here is there's no strict regular inspection on sanitation among street food market, only a few time inspection requirements needed for business permit application, in which I doubt if the stalls are actually inspected. Although the DoH has constantly reminding the public of health issues regarding consuming street food, factors such as affordability and availability kept the public from patronizing this kind of food regardless of the possible health issues of consuming street food on regular basis.
Individuals who are into food handling/ selling are required to submit health certificate, and should be free from any communicable disease in order to get a permit to operate. But the public needs a more thorough inspection from the health authorities, to make sure that consumable street foods are safe to eat.
(A taho vendor)
(From Google Images)
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