Food & Nutrition

Arab Journal of Food & Nutrition
47. The Nutritive Value and Safety of Some Selected Street Foods in Amman
(2000)
Jumana Ibrahim Bishouty\ University of Jordan
Supervisor: Dr. Mohammed I. Yamani
Co-Supervisor: Dr. Salma K. Tukan
This study was conducted to collect information about street foods in Amman,
Jordan and to study the nutritional quality and the microbial and lead contaminants of
the mostly available street foods obtained from street food vendors located in public
areas at three bus stations and four schools.
It was found that street food vendors in Amman provide an essential service by
selling fast meals, refreshments and snacks. Ka‘ak with sesame, falafel, kashta, cake,
semsemiah and sous were found to be the most available street foods in all studied
localities in Amman, and were chosen for this study.
Proximate analysis of the studied foods showed that the average protein content
ranged from 3.2g/100g for kashta to 16.9g/100g for semsemiah. The protein index of
nutritional quality (INQ) showed that the studied street foods were adequate in protein
(TNQ 1) except for kashta with honey like syrup which was a fair source (INQ =0.5).
The average fat content in the samples ranged from 1.1g/100g for ka’ak with sesame
to 41.5g/100g for semsemiah. However, the fat (INQ) did not exceed 1.3 except for
semsemiah which was 2.2. On the other hand, the fiber content of the studied street
foods was not detected in kashta and cake and the average in the other studied foods
ranged from 0.4 g/100g for falafel to 2.4g/100g for semsemiah.
No dust particles were detected when examined visually or microscopically (2X -
1 0X). The lead content of all the studied street foods was