The sale of substandard cold drinks prepared in poor hygienic conditions is one of the major causes for seasonal diseases among children during summer, said experts here on Saturday.
They said that stalls selling substandard cold drinks could be seen in the streets, outside schools and colleges, hospitals, bus terminals, bazaars, shopping centres and other public places, while adding that mostly poor people got attracted towards these drinks due to their lower prices.
Eminent paediatrician Dr Salma Shaikh, while talking to APP, informed that the situation got out of hand during the summer season as hot weather forced people to consume drinks which they would not have risked consuming in other seasons.
She warned that fake and substandard drinks could become the primary cause of diseases like typhoid, hepatitis, diarrhea and different kinds of other infections.
She claimed that the ratio of these diseases increased to around 60 percent in summer because unhygienic food and drinks were readily available in the market. She suggested that the government should immediately impose a ban on the sale of unhygienic cold drinks, especially outside schools.
Dr Shaikh also advised the people to avoid purchasing such drinks from roadside stalls and suggested that they should only use boiled, filtered or genuine mineral drinking water.
Furthermore, she said that all such drinks which were prepared by blending artificial colours with iced water were injurious for health. She appealed to the people to avoid consumption of substandard items if they prized their health more.
According to different surveys, many vendors were selling juice extracted from stale oranges at low prices, particularly near the railway station and bus stands.
One survey pointed out that a vast majority of juice vendors did not observe any safety standards while washing their utensils.
Moreover, substandard drinks were sometimes sold in re-used bottles that were not cleaned properly in a registered facility, it added.
Meanwhile, residents of Hyderabad, Qasimabad and Latifabad have appealed to the authorities concerned to take stern action against those persons who were playing with the health of common people.
