Food Safety Focus (230th Issue, Sep 2025) – Article 2

Making Street Food Safer: Survey Insights and Practical Tips

Reported by Ms. Melva CHEN, Scientific Officer,
Risk Communication Section, Centre for Food Safety

Street food is beloved by both locals and tourists. Vibrant stalls offer a wide range of snacks from savoury siu-mai, curry fish balls, and lo-shui skewers to sweet egg waffles and refreshing fruit tea. Yet, this popularity brings increasing attention to food safety and hygiene, which cannot be overlooked.

Street food has not been the major source of food poisoning in the past two decades. Nonetheless, isolated incidents in recent years, including Salmonella contamination in cold-served lo-shui pig oviduct skewers and salty chicken at food expos, highlight that street food safety remains a concern. Salmonella can cause severe food poisoning, with symptoms like nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, and fever. It is especially dangerous for young children and the elderly.

Survey Insights

Street-food stalls often operate in crowded spaces and serve high volumes of customers, making it easy to overlook proper safety measures. To identify knowledge gaps and areas for improvement, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) conducted a survey on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of street food handlers in 2024. Through questionnaires, site visits, and face-to-face interviews, it was found that most handlers demonstrated basic hygiene knowledge, particularly the need to cook food thoroughly. They also showed a generally positive attitude to food safety and practised basic hygiene, such as practising first-in-first-out of food ingredients and products and carrying out daily deep cleaning. However, the study also identified several problematic practices by certain food handlers, including not changing gloves between tasks, handling money and food simultaneously, thawing frozen meat at room temperature, failing to maintain cold foods below 4°C, and storing cooked food uncovered in refrigerators. Such malpractices can compromise food safety. Handlers from permanent stalls, usually full-time, showed a stronger commitment than those from temporary stalls or part-time workers. Notably, handlers with food safety training or a food hygiene supervisor certificate scored significantly higher in knowledge and attitude tests. The CFS also collected consumers' view around the same period through the Consumer Liaison Group. Some members expressed that the use of unclean utensils during food preparation and the appearance of flies and cockroaches in the stalls would deter them from purchasing. When choosing street food, they would pay attention to the hygiene of both the staff and stalls.

Practical Tips

Based on these findings, the CFS issued trade guidelines on street food stalls covering personal hygiene, environmental hygiene, and food handling, with a focus on areas of concern. The guidelines also contain a note for temporary food-stall organisers and operators with links to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) bazaar application guide and hygiene supervisor course. The FEHD strongly encourages all food handlers to attend food safety talks that are provided free by the CFS regularly, and street food operators to acquire a hygiene supervisor certificate. The hesitation of certain consumers to buy from street food stalls showed that food safety is closely tied to business success. In a competitive market, overlooking hygiene risks can harm both customers and business reputation.

Consumers visiting food stalls should choose vendors that look clean and handle food properly, and opt for items that are cooked on the spot and served hot instead of food that has been left out for a long time. They should wash or sanitise their hands before eating. For susceptible groups such as the elderly, young children, pregnant women, and those with weakened immunity, they should avoid high-risk street foods. These include cold dishes and drinks such as pre-prepared cold noodles, lo-shui skewers, salads, chilled desserts, iced drinks, etc., which are prone to bacterial growth. They should also refrain from eating any raw or undercooked food.

Overall, street-food stalls play an important role in urban culture and gastronomy, yet they must strike a balance between vibrancy and vigilance. By adopting the CFS's guidelines, pursuing training, and prioritising hygiene, operators can protect public health while ensuring that their businesses thrive.

1. Clean stall, with handwashing facilities and covered trash bins.
2. Food handlers wear clean clothing, tie their hair up or cover it, wear a mask, and do not serve food with their bare hands.
3. Food is protected by barriers, has a fast turnover and is not kept for long at room temperature.
4. Hot food cooked or reheated on the spot.
5. Cold food displayed in a chiller.
6. Food covered and stored neatly in the refrigerator.

Figure 2: Points to note for consumers when choosing street food stalls