Jul 26, 2019
Roadside eateries mushroom but unhealthy practices a cause for concern
Roadside eateries at Central Bus Stand in Tiruchi.
Roadside eateries continue to mushroom in the city thanks to the good patronage. But, the unhygienic environment and unhealthy practices of vendors have raised serious health concern among the public.
According to a long time resident of Chinthamani, roadside eateries began to mushroom in the early 1980’s. A few unemployed youth set up evening ‘parata’ stalls on roadsides near Chathiram Bus Stand, Chinthamani and Big Bazaar Street. They received good patronage among the people, particularly poor and daily wage workers. These food stalls gradually extended to other parts and now the city has more than 500 roadside eateries.
The number of eateries has doubled in the recent years and it is still on the rise. Since these ventures require just a few foldable chairs and tables and rented carts, unemployed youth and experienced parota masters conveniently set up eateries wherever they want. They invariably set up eateries at thickly populated places and busy commercial streets.
A large number of roadside eateries function near Central Bus Stand, Chathiram Bus Stand, Gandhi Market, Big Bazaar Street, Singarathope, Chinthamani, Srirangam and Thiruvanaikoil. Some run eateries in upscale residential locations such as Thillai Nagar, K.K. Nagar and Cantonment.
The way the roadside eateries transact business, particularly in the night hours, on the pavement of Central Bus Stand resembles the temporary stalls set up during temple festivals. Almost all 20 eateries in this area do brisk business. But the worrying factor is the poor hygiene. Except for a few owners, others pay little attention to hygiene. Moreover, nearly half of the eateries function near open drainages and garbage bins. The vendors keep the cooked dishes uncovered and servers seem unaware of hygienic practices. Repeated use of oil, non-permitted colours and poor quality of water are some of the unhygienic practices followed by the eateries. However, these eateries have a good patronage.
“It is definitely a cause for worry. However, the cheap rate and quick preparation attracts us to roadside stalls. We can have breakfast or dinner within ₹30. If we go to a restaurant, we will have to shell out at ₹50 for a dosa,” says S. Paulraj, a transport worker at Central Bus Stand.
K. Manoharan of Karur said that roadside eateries have become inevitable. But, food safety officials hardly undertake drives to check the quality of food. They should take steps to ensure that the vendors comply with at least minimum hygienic standards, he pointed out.
Three eateries shut down following inspections
Three hotels were closed down, one for keeping stale food and the other two for functioning without licence, during searches conducted in Aluva municipality and Choornnikara panchayat areas as part of the district administration’s Operation Safe Food drive.
Inspections were held at 17 hotels in all. Two hotels found to be functioning in an unhygienic manner, were slapped a cumulative fine of ₹15,000. Notice was issued to four eateries for preparing food in unhygienic ways and for engaging workers without health cards. Inspections are also held at wayside eateries and hotels in the district as part of the drive.
“Eateries engaging workers not in possession of health cards will be given five days to get the card. Those serving stale food will be asked to shut down. The inspection is carried out at night thrice a week. Wayside eateries found operating without licence will be shut. The inspection team comprises officials from Revenue, Food Safety, Civil Supplies, Health and police departments and local bodies,” a communication said
Food Safety officials shut down restaurant
A view of a restaurant at Thattanchavady that was closed by officials of the Food Safety Department in Puducherry on Wednesday.
11 MBBS students fall ill after having food from the hotel
Officials from the Food Safety Department on Wednesday ordered the closure of a restaurant here after 11 MBBS students of the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (Jipmer), who had food from the restaurant, were admitted to hospital.
according to an official, the students had ordered chicken and biryani online from Octofork restaurant located on the Tindivanam Road on July 22. The students started vomiting after having the food and were admitted to the hospital. Following complaints of food poisoning, a team of officials from the Food Safety Department inspected the restaurant. Food samples from there have been sent for analysis.
Lack of hygiene
S.D. Balakrishnan, Designated Officer of the Food Safety Department, said the team found that items were processed and stored in unhygienic conditions in the restaurant. The kitchen was poorly maintained and the storage facilities were found to be a major source of contamination and poisoning.
The restaurant had violated specific hygienic and sanitary practices to be followed by Food Business Operators under the Food Safety and Regulations Act, 2011, he added.
India’s food delivery wars are no longer about speed, but quality
With Indian food-delivery firms coming of age, quality is increasingly taking precedence over quantity.
As apps like Zomato, Swiggy, and Uber Eats bring thousands of restaurants to patrons’ fingertips, this also brings to sharp relief the problem of subpar food, which in turn has prompted the aggregators to respond.
Over two-thirds of consumers placing orders on food-delivery apps are concerned about quality, according to the social engagement platform LocalCircles. “Cases have been reported where some of the outlets registered on these apps have turned out to be makeshift, or operate out of home joints, with little focus on hygiene and quality,” LocalCircles said.
Seven in 10 consumers felt that the quality of food deteriorates slightly or even significantly during packaging and transportation, according to the survey of over 27,000 consumers across 218 Indian districts.
“These issues are real and tend to get ignored in the (startup’s) buildout stage, when the focus is on rapid expansion and market capture,” said Harish HV, an independent analyst tracking India’s startup sector. “As the buildout stage slows down, the focus then turns to operations, customer satisfaction, quality, and more. I believe these companies now have to ensure these aspects for sustained growth, else they will start seeing a dip in growth or revenues.”
Putting quality to test
It’s about time food-delivery firms get serious about what they’re serving up.
“The online food delivery concept started only to bridge the gap between restaurants and customers, through which even small outlets could have access. But as Zomato, Swiggy, etc, started to significantly expand, they started to face problems at later stages due to lack of set standards,” said Sukriti Seth, a consultant at the Noida-based TechSci Research.
In mid-2018, Zomato and Swiggy began delisting from their platforms thousands of restaurants that didn’t comply with Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) norms. They have now begun started to work on improving the quality by setting up standards, paying regular visits to outlets, and collecting feedback from customers, Seth added.
Swiggy, for instance, told Quartz that it conducts extensive hygiene audits across its restaurant partner network using credible third-party firms, who rate the restaurant based on a detailed checklist that includes raw material procurement, pest control, food storage and processing, facilities, and hygiene. The audited restaurants carry food hygiene tags on their page on the Swiggy app so that consumers can make informed choices.
In August 2018, Zomato launched HyperPure, a technology-driven platform designed to supply fresh, clean ingredients to restaurants. Outlets buying ingredients through HyperPure are tagged “HyperPure Inside” on the Zomato app, which assures customers that their food is made from fully-traceable, high-quality ingredients.
Yet, controlling hygiene and processes is only step one. Often, even if the food is cooked right, packaging and transport provisions fall short and ultimately, the food on the customer’s dining table isn’t up to the mark.
Packaging right
Around 30% of people placing orders found the quality of packaging unsatisfactory, according to LocalCircles.
“People who are packaging aren’t skilled enough,” Yugal Joshi, vice-president of Texas-based consulting firm Everest Group, told Quartz. They are not aware that take-away parcels and food sent through delivery executives require different packaging, he added. “Moreover, the general quality of containers is poor as these food vendors are running on thin margins and don’t invest sufficiently.”
Tracking delivery personnel is also a challenge. Earlier this year, a Zomato executive was caught on camera eating from the package he was to deliver.
The companies are, however, combating the problem, bit by bit.
Shortly after the Zomato personnel’s video went viral on social media, the firm launched tamper-proof packaging in 10 cities. “If consumers find the safety seal open, they are advised not to accept the delivery,” it said in a blog post.
Meanwhile, Swiggy offers “packaging assist” to help restaurant partners access eco-friendly and sustainable packaging solutions. The Bengaluru-based firm is also working with multiple design consultants and manufacturers to come up with more innovative, personalised, and eco-friendly packaging solutions, it said.
Bakeries, sweet shops, restaurants can now sport ‘Trans Fat Free’ logo
Food safety regulator FSSAI working on bringing down trans fat content to 2% by 2022
Bakeries, sweet shops, restaurants besides packaged food companies will now be allowed to use “Trans Fat Free” logo at their outlets and on their products, if they comply with the norms notified by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
The regulator had last year notified the Advertisement and Claims regulations, which states that nutritional claim of trans fat free can only be made if products contain less than 0.2 gm trans fat per 100 gm or 100 ml of food.
In a letter sent out to food safety commissioners and food business operators earlier this week, the food safety authority said, “Food establishments like bakeries, sweet shops and other food outlets are encouraged to use healthier fat or oil options, to reduce the trans fat content in the foods.”
“The food establishments which use trans-fat free fats/oils and do not have industrial trans-fat more than 0.2 gms per 100 gm of the food, in compliance with the regulation on Claims and Advertisements, 2018 can display ‘Trans Fat Free’ logo in their outlets and on their food products,” it added.
Since last year FSSAI has been pushing the industry to bring down the trans-fatty acids in Vanaspati, edible bakery shortenings, margarine in a phased manner. The trans fat content in fats and oils has already been limited to 5 per cent. The regulator is working on further reducing the content to 3 per cent by 2021 and 2 per cent by 2022. “The regulation is also being extended to food products having fats and oils,” FSSAI said.
This commitment was made after the World Health Organisation called for the elimination of industrially-produced trans fat from the food supply by 2023. Many countries around the world, such as Denmark, Chile, Norway, Singapore and South Africa already limit trans-fat in all foods to 2 per cent.
According to FSSAI regulations, the maximum permissible limits for Total Polar Compounds (TPC) have been set at 25 per cent, beyond which the cooking oil is unsafe for consumption.
Stating that the logo is voluntary, FSSAI also stressed in its letter that it will be the responsibility of Food Business Operators to comply with the requirements as specified in its regulations, in cases, “wherein a claim to this effect is made.” The regulator has also released the specifications of the logo.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)