Vendors sell unhygienic flavoured ice treats outside schools and in neighbourhoods
SUMMER TREAT CAVEAT: A vendor sells flavoured ice balls to children at his stall in a Rawalpindi neighbourhood. PHOTO: EXPRESS
RAWALPINDI:
With the onset of summer, brightly coloured ice balls and flavoured drinks being sold in streets and outside schools have started raising health concerns in the city.
Vendors selling ice balls regularly gather outside government and private schools during breaks and closing hours, offering the treats for Rs10 to Rs20. Alongside the ice balls, artificially flavoured cold drinks in seven to eight different colours are also being sold for Rs10 per glass.
The products are available in red, green, blue, yellow, orange and brown colours, while ice balls are usually prepared using three or four colours of the customer’s choice. Not only children but adults are also buying these treats due to their low prices.
From 8am till midnight, stalls and carts selling colourful drinks and ice balls can be seen across neighbourhoods, markets and commercial areas. Vendors are also selling low-quality flavoured juices in the name of various fruits at cheap rates, contributing to the spread of diseases.
Children are increasingly spending their pocket money on these ice balls after school hours, while no action is being taken against the vendors.
Former Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology medical superintendent Dr Ayaz Haider said the ice balls were highly injurious to health and caused throat and stomach illnesses.
He said although ice appeared cold, its effect on the body was harmful, adding that the colours used on ice balls did not comply with hygiene standards. The red colouring in particular was extremely dangerous for health, he added.
Dr Haider said the syrups used on ice balls were unbranded and usually prepared at home. He said throat diseases were spreading rapidly these days because people preferred low-quality ice cream, ice balls and market syrups instead of taking precautions during hot weather.
He further said smoke emitted by vehicles also contaminated these food items. During summer, people are naturally attracted towards cold drinks, ice balls, kulfi, market syrups, sattu and sugarcane juice, making it a profitable season for roadside vendors, he added.
He warned that dust settling on unhygienic kulfi, cold drinks and ice balls could also prove harmful to health. Seasonal changes often trigger throat and stomach diseases, while even minor negligence could lead to illness, he said.
Dr Haider advised parents to avoid such products and instead provide children with fresh fruit and vegetable juices prepared at home.
