The Centre has passed its populist food security bill, promising subsidised food grains to more than two-thirds of the country’s population -- over seven crore in the state. But food consumption for a miscellany of citizens in Mumbai is far from secure, or sanitised.

Here are the sickening facts: 19 students showed symptoms of food poisoning on August 14 after consuming toffees distributed by a classmate on her birthday in Manpada, Thane. Last year in April, 148 took ill at a wedding banquet after having food cooked in sordid environs, some 10-12 feet from a public toilet. The hygiene of snacks vended at Juhu or Girgaum chowpatty and other roadside stalls is a myth this paper has busted many times in the past.