Author(s): Amrita Sengupta, Abhijit Pandit, Jogen Sharma
Street food is a necessary aspect of daily life for billions of people around the world, especially in low- and middle-income nations where it is cheap, easy to get, and makes people feel like they belong to a culture. But underneath its ease of use is a public health problem that puts lives, jobs, and long-term development at risk. This paper thoroughly examines the biological, chemical, physical, and nutritional risks linked to street food consumption, highlighting the global disease burden, systemic infrastructural deficiencies, food adulteration practices, and regulatory inadequacies that sustain hazardous behaviours. Based on evidence from the World Health Organisation (WHO), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and recent peer-reviewed studies, this work illustrates how street food, despite its essential socio-economic role, can act as a conduit for illness, chronic health issues, and even death. It emphasises the unequal effects on children, women, and other vulnerable groups and looks into how poverty, regulatory failure, and informal food economies are all connected. The study contends that remedies must be both systemic and context-sensitive, including regulatory innovation, vendor education, investment in public health infrastructure, consumer awareness, and technology-driven interventions. This paper argues that street food safety is not just a health issue, but a major development priority that needs action right away from many different sectors. It does this by using tables, case studies, visualisations, and documented global outbreaks.