KOLHAPUR: The district Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) on Saturday issued 'improvement' notices to 85 eateries in the city and nearby areas for not complying with Food Safety Management regulations.
According to the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and Rules and Regulations, 2011, hotels and food stalls must comply with norms related to maintaining hygienic conditions while preparing and serving food to the customers.
In their raids on establishments over the past week, FDA officials observed that food safety norms - like wearing gloves, using clean vessels to prepare food, clean premises and clean drinking water served to customers - were not followed at these 85 establishments.
"As per the guidelines of the act, hoteliers and stall vendors have to follow norms like wearing gloves and aprons, using clean vessels to cook food and use unadulterated items to prepare food. However, in the raids conducted by our Food Safety Officers (FSO's), we found that 85 owners or operators had been flouting the norms. Thus, we have issued notices to these establishments," said S A Chougule, additional commissioner, FDA, Kolhapur.
Owners and operators to whom the notices have been issued should undertake food safety measures to improve the quality of food or face penalties, and at a later stage, may even face criminal charges.
Chougule said, "Some of the eateries did not display the food licence prominently in the their establishments and did not provide health certificates to workers handling food items. We have suggested measures through which safety of food should be maintained and have also offered ideal guidelines to prepare the food safety management report, which have to be submitted to us within seven days of the notice being issued."
The FDA is going to organize an awareness drive on 'food safety management' for street vendors, many of whom flout guidelines, albeit unknowingly. The drive will focus on vendors selling food at transit and tourist spots in the city, like the Central Bus Stand (CBS), the railway station and well-known food corners like Khau Galli.
Over the past two months, the FDA had obtained 115 food samples, common during the Ganesh festival and Diwali. These samples have been sent to the laboratory for testing.
The FDA is also going to issue directions to sugarcane farmers employed in jaggery manufacturing."A significant number of farmers are employed in manufacturing jiggery in the district. In 2013, we found some jaggery samples with excessive amount of sulphur dioxide, which could be poisonous. Now on, farmers making jaggery have to register their manufacturing unit to comply with the food safety norms," Chougule said.
As per act's guidelines, jaggery manufacturing should be done in closed premises. Also, the kiln in which sugarcane juice is poured should be placed on a rough surface, made of either stone or concrete. The sulphur dioxide concentration in jaggery should not be above 70 parts per million (PPM) of sugarcane juice used.
According to the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and Rules and Regulations, 2011, hotels and food stalls must comply with norms related to maintaining hygienic conditions while preparing and serving food to the customers.
In their raids on establishments over the past week, FDA officials observed that food safety norms - like wearing gloves, using clean vessels to prepare food, clean premises and clean drinking water served to customers - were not followed at these 85 establishments.
"As per the guidelines of the act, hoteliers and stall vendors have to follow norms like wearing gloves and aprons, using clean vessels to cook food and use unadulterated items to prepare food. However, in the raids conducted by our Food Safety Officers (FSO's), we found that 85 owners or operators had been flouting the norms. Thus, we have issued notices to these establishments," said S A Chougule, additional commissioner, FDA, Kolhapur.
Owners and operators to whom the notices have been issued should undertake food safety measures to improve the quality of food or face penalties, and at a later stage, may even face criminal charges.
Chougule said, "Some of the eateries did not display the food licence prominently in the their establishments and did not provide health certificates to workers handling food items. We have suggested measures through which safety of food should be maintained and have also offered ideal guidelines to prepare the food safety management report, which have to be submitted to us within seven days of the notice being issued."
The FDA is going to organize an awareness drive on 'food safety management' for street vendors, many of whom flout guidelines, albeit unknowingly. The drive will focus on vendors selling food at transit and tourist spots in the city, like the Central Bus Stand (CBS), the railway station and well-known food corners like Khau Galli.
Over the past two months, the FDA had obtained 115 food samples, common during the Ganesh festival and Diwali. These samples have been sent to the laboratory for testing.
The FDA is also going to issue directions to sugarcane farmers employed in jaggery manufacturing."A significant number of farmers are employed in manufacturing jiggery in the district. In 2013, we found some jaggery samples with excessive amount of sulphur dioxide, which could be poisonous. Now on, farmers making jaggery have to register their manufacturing unit to comply with the food safety norms," Chougule said.
As per act's guidelines, jaggery manufacturing should be done in closed premises. Also, the kiln in which sugarcane juice is poured should be placed on a rough surface, made of either stone or concrete. The sulphur dioxide concentration in jaggery should not be above 70 parts per million (PPM) of sugarcane juice used.
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