DepEd to school kids: Don’t buy street food

THE Department of Education in Central Visayas (DepEd-7) has warned school children against

buying street food or from vendors they are not familiar with.
Dr. Juliet Jeruta, DepEd regional director, also said parents should be advised during the

Parents-Teachers Association (PTA) meetings to make sure their children buy only from the

school canteen.
A better option is for parents to prepare their children’s food themselves, Jeruta said. This

way, she said the children will have no reason to buy food anywhere.
She issued the verbal advisory after about 1,400 people, mostly students, fell ill in Caraga

region due to food poisoning.
Jeruta said it would be best for schools to regulate vendors operating in the vicinity. Only

those who have secured sanitary permits from the Department of Health should be allowed to sell

food to the children, she added.
“Their children should be instructed not to buy food from the streets. They should not buy from

vendors they don’t know and if they don’t know who prepared the food,” she said.
She said food at the school canteen should be safe and nutritious because it is managed by the

Home Economics teacher and inspected regularly.
“The sole avenue for food buying or food sourcing should be the canteen of the school,” Jeruta

said.
“They (canteen operators) have to go to a food-handlers’ class and they are under the

supervision of the Home Economics teacher. The students who prepare the food also observe

proper handling practices like wearing a turban or a hair net, using gloves while mixing, and

using proper utensils for food preparation,” she added.