One-third of PGI's eating joints 'poor' in food safety

CHANDIGARH: The topic for the World Health Day (April 7) 2015 is 'Food Safety'. The PGI's School of Public Health conducted a study aimed at ascertaining the determinants of degree of conformance of eating establishments (EE) to Food Safety and Standards Regulations 2011(FSSR-2011).

Dr Puja Dudeja - who carried out the study as part of her PhD thesis - is being asked by public health experts across the country to screen 'Farm to Fork' (a short film on this topic) on Tuesday, as part of the WHO Day. This film was part of the research work of Dr Dudeja. She - along with Dr Amarjeet Singh, professor, School of Public Health, PGI - took the lead in initiating research on food safety aspects in a hospital setting.

As far as the status of conformance was concerned, no EE was found to be 'excellent', while one-third of EEs were rated as 'poor'. The minimum score was 41.28%, and the highest score was attained by the kitchen of the PGI's Dietetics Department (77.25%). The reasons for the poor score of EEs were poor personal hygiene and lack of training among food handlers. The safety practices of food handlers in preventing microbial cross-contamination are dismal. Lack of hygiene and sanitation, poor maintenance, and inappropriate disposal of solid waste in the EEs contributed to the lack of food safety.

The findings highlight the importance of food hygiene education for food handlers, and the need to inculcate the practices of good personal hygiene in them. Food business operators (FBOs) were not aware of the new law on food safety and hygiene.