the onlookers and permanent watchers made sure the hunger artist never spent any time alone because they were afraid he was ...

They were afraid he was sneaking food...... actually they weren't; they were simply reassuring the masses.

"Besides casual onlookers there were also relays of permanent watchers selected by the public, ususally butchers, strangely enough, and it was their task to watch the hunger artist day and night, three of them at a time, in case he should have some secret recourse to nourishment. This was nothing but a formality, instituted to reassure the masses, for the initiates knew well enough that during his fast the artist would never in any circumstances, not even under forcible compulsion, swallow the smallest morsel of food; the honor of his profession forbade it."

Source(s): A Hunger Artist