Kolkata: How safe is the food served to passengers on trains and at stations? On Saturday, officials from the medical department of Eastern Railway (ER), along with a Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) team, tested the food at the Sealdah station with the help of mobile units known as ‘Food Safety on Wheels’.
These vans not only facilitate the testing of food items and ingredients on the spot, they also provide training on food safety. This was under a scheme initiated by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
“It’s a two-pronged approach. The primary objective is to ensure supply of good quality food to passengers while the second is to caution food suppliers that such tests can be carried out any time and they should not be negligent. During the day, nine samples were picked up at random from the executive ounge, base kitchen, Jan Ahaar outlet and the food court. All the items were found safe for human consumption,” said ER CPRO Nikhil Kumar Chakraborty.
“A training and certification programme for food handlers and supervisors was also conducted at Sealdah. Passengers were urged to update themselves on safe eating habits and report any issue with the food served to them at stations or on trains. Sanghamitra Chatterjee, ER additional chief medical superintendent, and Sarmistha Mukhopadhyay, food analyst, KMC, were present during the campaign. This will be extended to other stations under ER soon,” Chakraborty added.
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