The actual sources of contamination
A 2019 study published in the Indian Journal of Public Health sampled street food from vendors across Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata and found that 63% of ready-to-eat items tested positive for coliform bacteria, the marker for fecal contamination. The source was almost never the food itself. It was water: water used to rinse ingredients, water used to make chutneys, water in the vessel a vendor's hands dipped into repeatedly through the day.
