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Street-vended foods are appreciated for their unique flavours and convenience, as well as for maintaining the nutritional status of the population. They also assure food security for low–income urban population and livelihood for a significant proportion of the population in many developing countries. In spite of these potential benefits, street foods have been reported to be contaminated with pathogens and have also been implicated in food-borne epidemics. 1 Raw foods, especially ready-to-eat salad vegetables, sprouts and cut fruits have been implicated in outbreaks of food borne diseases in both developed and developing countries. 2 ‘Fruit chats’ comprising of slices of banana, guava, papaya and apple with a dash of salt and lemon juice enjoy a very high consumer preference in Northern, Western and Eastern parts of India. Fruit chats are usually consumed as a nutritious midday meal or as an accompaniment …