Take-out
A concept found in many ancient cultures, take-out food is common worldwide, with a number of different cuisines and dishes on offer.
[4] However, these vendors often had a bad reputation, often being in trouble with city authorities reprimanding them for selling infected meat or reheated food.
[7] In Renaissance Turkey, many crossroads saw vendors selling "fragrant bites of hot meat", including chicken and lamb that had been spit roasted.
[10] After Spanish colonization of Peru and importation of European food stocks including wheat, sugarcane and livestock, most commoners continued primarily to eat their traditional diets, but did add grilled beef hearts sold by street vendors.
[14] Many women of African descent made their living selling street foods in America in the 18th and 19th centuries; with products ranging from fruit, cakes and nuts in Savannah, Georgia, to coffee, biscuits, pralines and other sweets in New Orleans.
[15] In the 19th century, street food vendors in Transylvania sold gingerbread-nuts, cream mixed with corn, and bacon and other meat fried on tops of ceramic vessels with hot coals inside.
[17] In India, local businesses and cooperatives, had begun to supply workers in the city of Mumbai (Bombay) with tiffin boxes by the end of the 19th century.
[21] Providing a take-out service saves operators the cost of cutlery, crockery and pay for servers and hosts; it also allows many customers to be served quickly, without restricting sales by remaining to eat their food.
[24] In the United States, many restaurants and take-out establishments offer drive-through or drive-thru[25] outlets that allow customers to order, pay for, and receive food without leaving their cars.
[26] Some take-out businesses offer prepared food for delivery, which usually involves contacting a local restaurant by telephone or online.
In countries including Australia, Canada, India, Brazil, Japan, much of the European Union and the United States, food can be ordered online from a menu, then picked up by the customer or delivered by the restaurant or a third party delivery service.
The field has seen rapid growth since the late 2000s with the spread of the smart phones and apps enabling customers to order from their mobile devices.
This was discontinued in the United States in 1993 due to the number of lawsuits arising from accidents caused by hurried delivery drivers.
[40] In 2013, Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) banned outright the use of disposable tableware in the nation's 968 schools, government agencies, and hospitals.
[41] In Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, laws banning the use of disposable food and drink containers at large-scale events have been enacted.
[44] According to a 2018 study published in Resources, Conservation and Recycling, for the first half of 2017, Chinese consumers ordered 4.6 billion takeout meals, generating "significant environmental concerns".
