DO you ever wonder where the banana leaf has been before you get food served on it?

Bundles of the leaf are often left on the pavement, exposed to the elements as well as to pests like rats, cockroaches and pigeons, says a reader.

Project manager Lionel Rajesh, 47, said he had seen stacks of banana leaves left outside eateries and restaurants in Little India for several hours.

The banana leaves are delivered by suppliers before the restaurants open and are left uncovered in the dirt on the streets.

He said: 'It's unhygienic and it gets worse on the weekends when beer bottles and unwanted food items are discarded on the pavements, next to the leaves.'

The banana leaves are usually wiped with a damp cloth before being used to serve food on.

But Mr Rajesh wondered whether this could remove dirt and bacteria.

'Who knows what nocturnal creatures might have contaminated the leaves,' he said.

His photos show stacks of banana leaves placed on the roadside and on sidewalks - some next to overflowing rubbish bins.

He also snapped a shot of a stack of banana leaves placed on sand, next to some pipes and sediment from a nearby construction site.

Administrator Lye Lee Fong, 48, has observed this for the past seven years while jogging in the area in the mornings.

But she's not as perturbed by it as Mr Rajesh.

'It's hard to tell if the banana leaves are clean but it hasn't stopped me from eating at these restaurants,' she said.

Biomedical engineer Lim Hoi Liat, 50, who eats at Indian restaurants two or three times a week, agreed.

He said: 'When I was young, waiters from Indian restaurants would pluck banana leaves from the trees directly and then serve me my meal so I am not too concerned about where the leaves are placed.'

However, he added that if he saw the leaves getting contaminated, he might think twice about eating the food.

Student Nicholas Lee, 19, said he had assumed all restaurants have hygienic practices and would avoid restaurants which leave their banana leaves on the pavement.

Mr Adaikkalam Rajendran, 45, a waiter at Gandhi Restaurant, said its supplier leaves the banana leaves on the floor outside, before the restaurant opens at 10.30am.

'We usually have a table for them to place the leaves, but when the National Environment Agency (NEA) officers came down on 25 Apr, they found the banana leaves on the floor,' he said.

'It's not our practice to do so and we have since informed the supplier to place the leaves on the table.'

But it seems old habits die hard.

A spokesman for Banana Leaf Apolo said its supplier left a stack of banana leaves on the ground outside its restaurant on 30 Apr, just five days after NEA officers were there.

He apologised for the lapse: 'It was a mistake. We won't let it happen again as hygiene is of the utmost importance to our establishment.'

An NEA spokesman said food shop operators must thoroughly wash the leaves before using them to serve food.

The agency has informed all restaurant operators in the Chander Road and Race Course Road area to tell their suppliers not to place the banana leaves on the ground.

NEA said they have followed its advice to leave a chair, table or rack outside for the leaves to be placed on.

It noted that some stacks of leaves have an additional layer of banana leaf wrapping to protect them from contamination.

The spokesman said the restaurants had been advised to discard the outer leaves of the stacks.

'All food shop operators who use banana leaves to serve food are advised to adhere to good hygiene practices.'

Those who use dirty or contaminated food containers or packaging to serve food can be fined up to $2,000 under the Environmental Public Health (Food Hygiene) Regulations.

Melody Zaccheus, newsroom intern

This article was first published in The New Paper on May 2, 2008.