Mexico City street food vendors face hygiene challenges due to lack of infrastructure

Street food vendors in Mexico City face significant public health challenges due to a lack of access to potable water and waste disposal systems. While over 60% of the city's population consumes food from informal stalls at least once a week, maintaining hygiene standards is difficult without proper infrastructure.

Data indicates that approximately 78,900 people worked as street food vendors in the capital during the first quarter of 2026. A 2025 study by the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) identified fecal coliforms in several samples of sauces from stalls near Metro stations, highlighting concrete sanitary risks.

Guillermo Bernal, founder of Fundación Placemaking, noted that hygiene depends on working conditions rather than just individual will. He emphasized that without water access and waste management, complying with official hygiene regulations is nearly impossible. Bernal also warned that gastrointestinal infections from contaminated food pose a high mortality risk for vulnerable populations, specifically children under eight and seniors over eighty.