CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

In the Philippines, street food is one of the most enjoyed food by the

Filipinos, as there are so many options of ‘ihaw-ihaw’ or grilled skewers

such as 'isaw', 'betamax', 'barbeque', and many more. According to Nick

Lynch in his blog about street foods in the country, eating barbeque in the

Philippines is definitely different from what you are probably used to, as

each variety comes from different parts of the pork and chicken, including

the internal parts, but he mentioned that those are worth trying out,

especially for the tourists. Also, he defined the term ‘ihaw-ihaw’ as a variety

of grilled food on skewer. In addition, the said grilled foods are aimed

toward budget-conscious customers, as the prices for each stick usually costs

around 10 pesos to 30 pesos only.

One of the golden rules of eating healthy at restaurants is to choose

"grilled" foods over "fried" choices since grilled foods are healthier because

there is no batter coating or dripping grease (Magee, 2018). However, using

charcoal-powered grill might burn the outer portion of foods. These burnt

foods are classified as probable carcinogens (Kennedy, 2019), thus causing

health hazards to the consumers. On the other hand, electric grills are much
convenient and healthier to use, as a result of using electricity as fuel source

and controllable temperature settings. Moreover, using an electric grill to

replace charcoal-powered grill can generally provide health benefits to the

consumers of grilled foods, as some of the benefits of using electric grills are

less fat on food, keep flavors into the meat, and allow vegetables to retain

more of its vitamins and minerals.