Diseases worth lakhs of taka from a 10 taka glass of sharbat
Graphics: Agamir Somoy
Amid the intense heat, pedestrians are crowding sidewalks and roadside areas in the capital to quench their thirst. Taking advantage of the demand, various types of sharbat in different colors and flavors are being sold for just Tk 10 to Tk 20. Although lemon, beetroot, pieces of fruit, ice and various spices are used to make the drinks attractive, many vendors are not following the necessary hygiene practices during preparation.
Sharbat made with unsafe water, unclean glasses and ingredients kept in open environments can pose various health risks, including diarrhea, dysentery, vomiting and stomach infections, instead of simply quenching thirst. If people develop such illnesses, recovering from them can cost hundreds of thousands of taka in no time.
Visiting various roads and busy areas in the capital, it was found that mobile sharbat stalls were preparing the drinks in large containers of water. Lemons, fruits, sugar, spices and other ingredients were kept nearby. However, questions remain about how safe the water used to prepare the sharbat is. At the same time, many stalls do not have adequate arrangements to properly clean the glasses they use.
Meanwhile, prepared sharbat and various ingredients are often kept uncovered. As a result, dust from the roads, vehicle fumes and germs can easily mix with the drinks and ingredients. Questions have also been raised about how safe the ice used in the sharbat is.
Saiful, who sells lemon sharbat in Farmgate, said, “I drink two or three glasses of the sharbat I sell every day, and the boy who delivers ice to me in the morning also drinks a glass every day. If it were harmful, would I drink it?”
When asked whether the glasses are properly cleaned, he said, “I wash the glass after each person drinks sharbat.” However, he could not answer how many times a day the water in the designated bucket used to wash the glasses is changed.
Not only roadside stalls, many restaurants also serve sharbat in unclean glasses and use unwashed fruits
Regarding the ice used in sharbat, Shah Jalal Bulbul, owner of an ice producing business in Rajabazar, said, “The ice we give for sharbat is safe. We sell two types of ice. One costs Tk 60 and the other Tk 120. We make the Tk 60 ice for fish sellers and external work. The Tk 120 ice is suitable for consumption, so we supply it to sharbat stalls and restaurants.”
He further said, “The ice we supply to sharbat stalls is made using safe pump water. If someone makes edible sharbat using ice meant for low quality fish, that is their fault.”
Zahirul, a mobile sharbat vendor in Karwan Bazar, however, said something different. He said, “We make sharbat using WASA water, which everyone in Dhaka drinks at home. If it is not harmful, then why would the sharbat be harmful?”
When asked about cleanliness, he said, “I am making the sharbat right in front of everyone, and people are drinking it. If anyone thinks it is unclean, they do not have to drink it. I am not forcing anyone to drink it.”
Tired from the afternoon heat, rickshaw driver Shariful came to Karwan Bazar and drank a glass of lemon sharbat. When asked whether the sharbat he had just consumed was clean, he said, “I did not spend money to drink harmful cold drinks. I drank a glass of lemon sharbat instead. If that is harmful too, then what will I drink?”
Alongside fruit sharbat, toqma sharbat can also be seen being sold in various parts of the capital. At one such stall in the Karwan Bazar area, toqma was seen soaking in an unclean bucket. Asked about this, vendor Md Delwar said, “I sit in Shahbagh. I am sitting here today because it rained. Although dirt has accumulated outside the bucket because of the rain, it is clean inside.”
When asked how the sharbat gets its bright red color, he said, “I use red dragon fruit, so the color becomes good.” However, when asked to show the dragon fruit, he could not do so.
Mushtaq Hossain, former chief scientific officer of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research and a public health expert, said, “Drinking fruit sharbat in hot weather is not harmful. Along with replenishing the water lost from the body, it also provides some necessary nutrients. However, it must be ensured that all the ingredients of the sharbat, including the fruit, and the vendor’s hands are clean. Otherwise, no food is safe, not even food prepared at home.”
He said that not only roadside stalls, but many restaurants also serve sharbat in unclean glasses and use fruit without washing it. There are similar health risks there as well.
Mentioning the risk of various waterborne diseases if safe water is not used, Mushtaq Hossain said, “If safe water is not used, there is a risk of all kinds of waterborne diseases. There is a risk of stomach disorders and infections, diarrhea, dysentery and diseases such as jaundice. Although some waterborne diseases occur over the long term, such as hepatitis A and hepatitis E.”
The public health expert also warned about the attractive colors of sharbat. He said, “Many restaurants and juice shops use artificial colors to make them look attractive. There is no harm if food grade colors are used. But since the price of fruit juice would be much higher in that case, most restaurant owners use industrial colors. These colors can damage the liver over the long term.”
There are also concerns about the ice used in sharbat. Regarding this, Mushtaq Hossain said, “If ice is made using safe water, there is no health risk from it. But if a shop or restaurant owner serves sharbat using ice meant for fish and meat, there is a possibility of diseases such as typhoid, hepatitis A and hepatitis E.”
He also advised people to remain cautious even when making ice at home. He said, “If ice has to be made in a home refrigerator, fish and meat should not be kept in that refrigerator. If they are kept there, there will also be a health risk.”
Overall, while low cost sharbat from roadside stalls may seem like an easy and affordable solution for many people to quench their thirst for a few minutes amid the intense heat, questions remain about its cleanliness. Similarly, questions remain about whether the same health risks exist in upscale restaurants.
It can be said that these drinks can bring diseases costing hundreds of thousands of taka at any time. Therefore, before quenching thirst, the former chief scientific officer of IEDCR advises people to pay attention to the cleanliness of the water, ice, glasses and environment used to prepare the sharbat.
