Feb 6, 2018
Food-testing van set in motion
Health Minister C. Laxma Reddy flagged off a mobile food-testing van here on Monday. The van was sanctioned by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, as part of a Central government scheme, to maintain food safety and hygiene standards, mainly in eateries.
At the present time,Presently, food samples for testing are sent to a government lab in Nacharam. The reports are then dispatched to the Institute of Preventive Medicine, before which the health administration and other regulatory authorities cannot take action. With food-inspecting vans, tests can be done outside a hotel or restaurant, without delay in dispensing results.
Besides attending to complaints, a schedule for its use as a medium of awareness about food-safety will soon be drawn, officials said. The State is likely to get another van soon.
Food regulator FSSAI asks states to make prasad safer
Blissful Hygienic Offering to God, or BHOG, is an FSSAI initiative to ensure that the food served in places of worship is hygienic and safe. Meenakshi Temple in Tamil Nadu and the Somnath in Gujarat are among those who sent people for training to meet FSSAI’s quality and hygiene standards.
Langar being prepared at a gurudwara in Ludhiana. Every day an estimated 300 million people visit places of worship across the country and receive food which can be a small portion or a complete meal.
The country’s food safety regulator has asked the states to roll out a project to ensure that devotees were served safe prasad at places of worship.
Every day an estimated 300 million people visit places of worship across the country and receive food which can be a small portion or a complete meal like the langar served in gurdwaras.
Distributing food in a temple, mosque, church or a gurdwara requires a licence from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). These places of worship must also follow food-safety guidelines.
“…You are requested to roll out the project BHOG in your state/UT and also nominate a nodal officer for this initiative,” FSSAI CEO Pawan Agarwal said in an order issued on January 29.
Blissful Hygienic Offering to God, or BHOG, is a part of FSSAI’s safe and nutritious food bouquet of initiatives launched a year ago and workshops were conducted for prasad handlers and vendors.
In his order, accessed by Hindustan Times, Agarwal again offered workshops and training.
The popular Meenakshi Temple in Tamil Nadu and the Somnath in Gujarat are among those who sent people for training to meet FSSAI’s quality and hygiene standards.
“This directive is to ensure proper regulatory compliance as it is important to improve the level of food safety and hygiene in their (places of worship) premises,” Agarwal said.
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