An episode of Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho went viral on social media featuring the procedure how to make ‘Guinamos’ or fermented shrimp paste.
Guinamos was a popular condiment in Visayas and Mindanao region and it was commonly paired with other dishes.
However, some netizens who loved Guinamos lost their appetite for the said condiment after they watched how it was being processed.
In the said episode, Mang Dioscoro, a local Guinamos maker can be seen washing his feet before pounding the fresh small shrimp using his bare feet.
The man would repeatedly pound it using his feet until it became a paste.
After it became bright purple, the owner of the Guinamos factory Imelda Barco can be seen tasting the condiment straight from the container.
Barco insisted that their procedure of making Guinamos was clean and safe to consume.
“The more na tumutulo (ang katas) the more na sumasarap siya,” Barco said.
However, some netizens were not convinced by the explanation of Barco and urged the factory owner to observe proper hygiene for the safety of their customers.
Experts also said that processing food using bare feet was not recommended practice as it can result to health risks.
Bare feet can carry dirt, bacteria, and other microorganisms that can contaminate food.
However, using bare feet as a way of processing food was still being practiced in other countries.
One of the popular food being processed using bare feet is wine.
Using bare feet to crush wine, also known as grape stomping, is a traditional method of wine-making that is still used in some small-scale wineries and vineyards around the world.