New Delhi, Dec 12:
President Pranab Mukherjee today said while new safety standards for
street food is an important step, small vendors should not find these
guidelines “intimidating” as food businesses are mainly run by small and
cottage scale units.
Food and Consumer Affairs Minister K.V Thomas today released safety
standards to ensure hygienic conditions for street food vendors. He
presented the first copy of these standards to the President.
Addressing a conference on food safety issues, Mukherjee said, “The
Indian standard on basic requirements for street food vendors is an
important step – especially in the context of the significant growth in
the street food sector.”
“It has important economic and nutritional implications for our urban
populations as street foods are an accessible and affordable option for a
sizable percentage of our working population,” he said.
Mukherjee, however, cautioned that since substantial majority of food
businesses are small and cottage scale units, “they should not be
intimidated by the standards that are set for them or find their
implementation to be too complex.”
Instead, he suggested, awareness should be created among these street
food vendors that improving safety would increase their profitability.
Apart from that, there must also be a channel for addressing their
genuine problems.
Stressing that food safety standards are essential both for
manufacturers and consumers, he said the importance of consumer
education in the prevention of food-borne illness is another universal
imperative.
On new risks due to globalisation in food trade, Mukherjee said faster
transboundary transfer of micro- biological and chemical hazards present
a new set of challenges to food safety.
“These potential risks require robust preventive and curative capacities
to be put in place to safeguard health of our population,” he observed.
President Pranab Mukherjee inaugrated the national seminar on
Food Safety. He elaborated on how a global economy has caused a paradigm
shift in consumption patterns
The challenge of meeting the ever growing food requirement of our
population calls for major investments and innovation in our
agriculture, agri-business and food processing sectors,” said the
President of India at the inaugral function of the . While upgradation
of suitable technology is essential, safe farming practices, modern
breeding techniques should go hand in hand with food related research,
duly concentrating on how food safety should be regulated under Indian
climatic and other relevant physical and cultural conditions. The Bureau
of Indian Standards has an increasingly important role in this effort,
he said.
The, President of India, Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the national seminar on
Food Safety — Role of Standard
organised by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) at the Vigyan Bhawan,
New Delhi. Speaking on the occasion, the President said that
globalisation of the world economy has given a significant boost to food
trade and resulted in a paradigm shift in food consumption patterns,
production methods and processing technologies. But at the same time,
there is a new risk of faster trans-boundary transfer of microbiological
and chemical hazards, he said. He stated that this presents a new set
of challenges to food safety and these potential risks require robust
preventive and curative capacities to be put in place to safeguard the
health of our population.
The President also received the first copy of book
Indian Standard Street Food Vendors — Food Safety Requirements
on the occasion from Prof KV Thomas, Minister of State (Independent
Charge) for Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
Prof KV Thomas in his presidential address said Food Safety remains a
serious concern, particularly since consumer interest in ‘fresh’ food
that is food without preservatives is growing. Also, there is a craze
among children and young generation towards fast food and food from
roadside eateries, where there is every possibility of contamination and
less attention on hygienic aspect. Food Safety is not an alternative;
it is non-negotiable as it may endanger life. Standards promote public
health by reducing the risk of food borne illness. They protect
consumers from unsanitary, unwholesome, mislabelled or adulterated food;
and provide a sound regulatory foundation for domestic and
international trade in food. These standards should be sufficiently
flexible to meet the needs of changing technology. At the same time,
they should assure real and meaningful safety benefits rather than
merely perceived benefits.
Pankaj Agrawala, Secretary (Consumer Affairs), Ministry of Consumer
Affairs, Food and Public Distribution in his welcome address said that
foodborne diseases are increasingly being perceived as a widespread and
growing threat to health, both in developed and developing countries.
Since, every person eats food, every person is at risk of foodborne
diseases. However, infants, young children and elderly are particularly
at risk. As such, food safety is an issue concerned directly with the
human health and human survival and food safety standards can lead the
country forward in our efforts to tackle this issue.
Govt releases guidelines for street vendors
The government on Wednesday released guidelines
of the Bureau of Standards (BIS) for street food vendors that seek to
provide minimal check points for ensuring safety in terms of hygiene and
quality of food offered by them.
“These standards will
focus on providing minimal check points for ensuring safety of street
foods by assuring food security for a large number of rural, urban and
migrant populations,” Food Minister K V Thomas said, after releasing the
BIS recommendations at a national seminar on food safety.
Addressing
the seminar, President Pranab Mukherjee said food safety ensuring clean
and nutrition food should be a “key priority” of the government
policies as it was vital for physical and mental health of people.
Noting that these businesses were mainly run by small and cottage scale
units in the country, the President, however, cautioned that small
vendors should not find the BIS guidelines “intimidating” and “complex”
for their implementation. He suggested awareness should be created among
street food vendors about the fact that improvement in food safety will
increase their profitability.
Mukherjee noted that the country
has made significant strides over the past decades in food production
and globalisation of the world economy has given a significant boost to
the food trade. “But at the same time, it has created a new set of
challenges to food safety,” he said.
