Restauranters angry over FSSA demands

With the new Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2011 in place, restaurant owners want authorities to be encouraging, rather than discouraging them by making impractical demands. After the FSSA came in place, a restaurant owner who had applied for a licence received an improvement letter from the Food and Drug Authority (FDA) officials, who then inspected the restaurant. The letter, which was issued in June 2012, mentions 13 improvement points that the FDA wants the restaurant to follow. Guruprasad Shetty, Owner, Status in Lower Parel, said, "While a few of the FDA’s suggestions were good, there were a few impractical ones such as having registration details of the vendors we buy raw materials from. If a vendor is not registered, how can we be held responsible or asked to produce it in a month’s time?" Another impractical requirement, said Shetty, is maintaining the first in, first out (FIFO) procedure - a method of stock rotation wherein new supplies are shelved behind old supplies, so that the old supplies get used first. "FIFO is for raw food products, which applies only to five-star hotels, while small hotel owners like us shop for food products on a daily basis," he added, according to a DNA report. While food experts want both authorities and restaurateurs to come together for the sake of food safety, Ashwin Badri, Head (business relations), Equinox Lab, a food hygiene expert professional agency, said, "Food safety officers need training in conducting inspections and what needs to be looked after. Also, restaurant owners would need workshops so that they are clear about the law." About maintaining records, Badri said, "City restaurants already do 80 per cent of the work needed to maintain food safety and hygiene. Taking extra steps and getting documents will only give them an edge." According to the report, however, Mahesh Zagade, Commissioner, FDA said that the FSSA has a provision, which allows the hoteliers to appeal to the commissioner directly if he is not happy with the improvement letter. "If there is something that they feel is impractical, they can approach me. We have to improvise the law," he added. The improvement letter emphasised on maintaining documents on the food safety steps undertaken by the restaurant. These include details on when was the pest control carried out, records of raw material used, and other such data.