Marico to promote safe food habits in Gujarat

Through this program, Marico is working with 3 Eat Right Campuses, 5 Clean Street Food Hubs and 50 schools in Gujarat wherein it has introduced the Safe and Nutritious Food at School initiative, the company said in a statement.

New Delhi: FMCG company Marico said that it will extend its association with the Eat Right initiative started by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to foster hygienic and safe food habits in the state of Gujarat. Through this program, Marico is working with 3 Eat Right Campuses, 5 Clean Street Food Hubs and 50 schools in Gujarat wherein it has introduced the Safe and Nutritious Food at School initiative, the company said in a statement.

The company has been a supporter of the program since its launch and in the last one year it has reached out to 200 schools benefitting more than 80,000 children across India, it claims. The program includes magic box tool kits to help students detect adulteration and canteen certification in 50 schools, reaching out to over 50,000 children across Gujarat.

“Marico has always been committed to making a difference in the community and support healthy living. In line with this, we are delighted to partner FSSAI to aid their Eat Right program. Having made a positive impact in the last 3 years, we are now expanding our initiatives in Gujarat through Eat Right Campuses, Clean Street Food Hubs and Safe and Nutritious Food at School programs, with an aim to promote healthy, safe and hygienic food habits,” said Dr. Sudhakar Mhaskar, CTO-Research, and Development at Marico.

As a part of its Eat Right Campus program, in accordance to FSSAI’s mandate, Marico has adopted the five star-rating mechanism which has a set of well-defined benchmarks on food safety and hygiene, food waste management, healthy diets, promotion of local and seasonal food and awareness building on healthy eating across campuses such as IIM Ahmedabad, NIRMA University in Gujarat, among others, the company said. Additionally, Marico will also promote food safety and nutrition through Health & Wellness Coordinators and Health Teams on campuses.

“I congratulate Marico Limited for initiating and supporting Eat Right Program at Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Chandigarh. I appreciate the efforts taken by respective FDAs as well as auditing and training agencies. Food Safety is a shared responsibility and Marico has been our partner in the Eat Right program since its inception. My best wishes for the future programs,” said Pawan Kumar Agarwal, CEO, FSSAI.

With the support of local FDA and FSSAI, Marico aims to work with 100 schools, 10 Eat Right Campuses, and 11 Street Food Hubs and reach over 4,00,000 people across Gujarat, Chandigarh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu in 2020, the company said.