FSSAI to launch initiative on safe and nutritious food at home

Food regulator FSSAI will launch an initiative on 'safe and nutritious food at home' tomorrow to create awareness about healthy food items and ways to test common adulterants at home.

The initiative which is being launched in pilot mode in Chanakyapuri here will be gradually extended to the National Capital Region and country-wide in the days to come. (PTI)

Food regulator FSSAI will launch an initiative on ‘safe and nutritious food at home’ tomorrow to create awareness about healthy food items and ways to test common adulterants at home. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is banking on resident welfare associations and other local bodies to disseminate information on safe and nutritious food. The regulator plans to reach out to 40 crore households in the country under its drive. The initiative which is being launched in pilot mode in Chanakyapuri here will be gradually extended to the National Capital Region and country-wide in the days to come.

Going forward, initiatives will also be launched to promote safe food at schools, offices, eateries and religious places, among others. “We have created guidance documents around what is required to be done at home, at workplace, at school or outside. Tomorrow we launch the initiative around safe and nutritious food at home on a pilot basis,” FSSAI CEO Pawan Agarwal said. He was addressing a conference on ‘Ensuring Hygiene & Safety For Our Industrial Workforce’ here.

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“We all recognise that in India, the levels of hygiene in general are poor. We have to go long, long way as far as that (industrial and common hygiene) is concerned,” Agarwal said. Speaking on the sidelines of the conference, the FSSAI CEO said: “We are expecting resident welfare associations and local associations will take on this responsibility. We will provide them the material. We are releasing the guidelines, like on how to test common adulterants at home”.

FSSAI will provide a green book to every household and create a dedicated website for safe and nutritious food at home. Similarly for schools, it will prepare a negative list of high fat, sugar and salt foods — commonly referred as junk food — to ensure food safety and nutrition in and around schools, including lunch boxes and canteens. It plans to make licence from FSSAI compulsory for food businesses involved in mid-day meal scheme.