The Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) and its counterpart in the western region, the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI), inaugurated their first non-commercial food testing laboratory in Vadodara, Gujarat, recently.
With this, HRAWI became the first hospitality industry association in the country to establish its own food testing laboratory. It would not only adhere to the global food safety and hygiene standards, but would also conduct the tests at 40-50 per cent lower costs than its commercial counterparts.
“It is our objective to encourage food business operators (FBO) and our members to follow international standards of hygiene,” stated Nirav Gandhi, chairman, Gujarat Region, HRAWI. He added that the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006 mandated self-declaration from FBO for food items.
“To do that, scientific testing on microbiological and chemical parameters would become a must,” Gandhi said. The facility would be supplementary to the Act. Speaking at its launch, D S Advani, president, HRAWI said, “With the introduction of FSSA, 2006, it has become mandatory for food business operators (FBO) to test their food products.”
“The number of labs currently existing is grossly insufficient, and would not be able to cope with the sheer volume of service-seekers. Our lab would benefit thousands of FBO, including bakery federations, catering associations, food retail traders and mithai associations,” he added.
The HRAWI-owned lab is equipped with national and international-standard equipment. Managed by a team of qualified and experienced technologists, it would have the proficiency to test almost all Indian culinary samples.
In addition, unlike other labs, it would send technologists personally to collect food samples from hoteliers and other FBO. Such samplings would reflect the truth without ambiguity.
Besides setting up the lab, HRAWI would also make provisions for the training and education of hoteliers. The training programme would help hoteliers put up systems and procedures in place to make them independent in maintaining food safety norms.
“The training would include setting up of a documented system on cutting, handling and preservation of food and other raw materials. Proper information and training would be provided on temperatures in which different types of food need to be preserved along with other defined parameters,” said Kamlesh Barot, immediate past president, HRAWI.
“The system would take into consideration such factors as hygiene stations, receiving raw material stations, pre-production, post-production, serving stations and setting up of standard operating procedures for each of them,” he added.
“Food handlers’ habits change from one hotel to other. This new arrangement would provide a one-of-a-kind service that would help hoteliers maintain standardised practices,” Barot stated.
Only upon maintaining a system for six months to a year would the hotels be accorded certifications. Other aspects of the training programme would include providing guidance to hoteliers on adherence to FSSAI laws.
It would explain complex procedures in simple implementable formats. The training would be provided at the hotel property, be tailor-made for each property, and adhere to International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 22000 and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) Certification norms.
FHRAI’s knowledge partner, Parikshan, would undertake tests and risk analysis at the newly-instituted lab. Parikshan runs a National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL)-audited lab in Chennai, and would bring its vast experience to the Vadodara facility.
Nobody would be allowed inside the lab except for the technologist/food analyst. “Since its inception, HRAWI has been working towards achieving international standards of food safety among its members,” said Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, the western India hotel body’s vice-president.
“It has been one of our key objectives to establish internally a compliance framework that is transparent yet flexible, and one that maintains the highest standards of hygiene. The setting up of the new lab will bring us a step closer to achieving this objective,” he added. In the pipeline is the establishment of several such facilities across the nation.
With this, HRAWI became the first hospitality industry association in the country to establish its own food testing laboratory. It would not only adhere to the global food safety and hygiene standards, but would also conduct the tests at 40-50 per cent lower costs than its commercial counterparts.
“It is our objective to encourage food business operators (FBO) and our members to follow international standards of hygiene,” stated Nirav Gandhi, chairman, Gujarat Region, HRAWI. He added that the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006 mandated self-declaration from FBO for food items.
“To do that, scientific testing on microbiological and chemical parameters would become a must,” Gandhi said. The facility would be supplementary to the Act. Speaking at its launch, D S Advani, president, HRAWI said, “With the introduction of FSSA, 2006, it has become mandatory for food business operators (FBO) to test their food products.”
“The number of labs currently existing is grossly insufficient, and would not be able to cope with the sheer volume of service-seekers. Our lab would benefit thousands of FBO, including bakery federations, catering associations, food retail traders and mithai associations,” he added.
The HRAWI-owned lab is equipped with national and international-standard equipment. Managed by a team of qualified and experienced technologists, it would have the proficiency to test almost all Indian culinary samples.
In addition, unlike other labs, it would send technologists personally to collect food samples from hoteliers and other FBO. Such samplings would reflect the truth without ambiguity.
Besides setting up the lab, HRAWI would also make provisions for the training and education of hoteliers. The training programme would help hoteliers put up systems and procedures in place to make them independent in maintaining food safety norms.
“The training would include setting up of a documented system on cutting, handling and preservation of food and other raw materials. Proper information and training would be provided on temperatures in which different types of food need to be preserved along with other defined parameters,” said Kamlesh Barot, immediate past president, HRAWI.
“The system would take into consideration such factors as hygiene stations, receiving raw material stations, pre-production, post-production, serving stations and setting up of standard operating procedures for each of them,” he added.
“Food handlers’ habits change from one hotel to other. This new arrangement would provide a one-of-a-kind service that would help hoteliers maintain standardised practices,” Barot stated.
Only upon maintaining a system for six months to a year would the hotels be accorded certifications. Other aspects of the training programme would include providing guidance to hoteliers on adherence to FSSAI laws.
It would explain complex procedures in simple implementable formats. The training would be provided at the hotel property, be tailor-made for each property, and adhere to International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 22000 and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) Certification norms.
FHRAI’s knowledge partner, Parikshan, would undertake tests and risk analysis at the newly-instituted lab. Parikshan runs a National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL)-audited lab in Chennai, and would bring its vast experience to the Vadodara facility.
Nobody would be allowed inside the lab except for the technologist/food analyst. “Since its inception, HRAWI has been working towards achieving international standards of food safety among its members,” said Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, the western India hotel body’s vice-president.
“It has been one of our key objectives to establish internally a compliance framework that is transparent yet flexible, and one that maintains the highest standards of hygiene. The setting up of the new lab will bring us a step closer to achieving this objective,” he added. In the pipeline is the establishment of several such facilities across the nation.
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