PANAJI: Street food is a major cause for sickness in India, Goa’s Urban Development Minister Francis D’Souza said on Tuesday, promising a crackdown on illegally operating street food carts in urban areas.

“Street food is a cause of major illnesses and that is causing a problem all over the world. It is not only (in) India. (In) India it is more so because we are totally dependant on street food,” he said.

Claiming that even the World Health Organisation endorsed that street food was unhealthy, he said that as per WHO, this is the “easiest way of catching all sicknesses, illnesses”.

“As far as possible they say, avoid street food,” D’Souza told reporters at the State Secretariat, after meeting a group of hoteliers, who had complained to his ministry about proliferation of street food carts in the state.

He said that he had instructed municipal officials to crack down on illegal street food carts in Goa’s urban areas.