FSSAI to scale up `Eat Right Campus' programme over next two years

Arun Singhal, CEO, FSSAI

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is gearing up to scale up its ‘Eat Right Campus’ programme over the next two years, with the aim of promoting healthy and safe food across educational institutes, corporate offices, hospitals and government offices.

Eat Right Campus certificates are given to corporate offices and educational institutes after conducting third-party audits to check if they meet the parameters of the programme. The parameters include food safety measures, steps to ensure provision of healthy and environmentally sustainable food, and building awareness among the individuals in the campus to make the right food choices

So far 28 Eat Right Campus certificates have been awarded to educational institutes and corporate campuses, and 30 additional certificates are in the pipeline, according to FSSAI.

Responding to BusinessLine queries, FSSAI CEO Arun Singhal said: “In the next two years, we plan to scale up the initiative in a big way across the country. FSSAI is engaging various institutions of national importance, government colleges, universities, IITs, IIMs, hospitals, and Central government ministries, to enrol them into the programme.

“Additionally, FSSAI is working with industry associations such as CII (Confederation of Indian Industry), FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry), ASSOCHAM (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India) and NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Service Companies)to enrol most of the bigger campuses, to begin with, and reach out to other corporates as we move forward. Finally, States will further engage with local campuses for enrolment. Therefore, we expect this initiative to grow exponentially in the coming years.”

Singhal said the food available in campuses should be safe and healthy, given that diet-related diseases such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart diseases are rising at an alarming rate.

So far, educational institutes such as IIT-Roorkee, IIT-Gandhinagar, IIM-Ahmedabad, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (Mussoorie) and Nirma University (Ahmedabad) have bagged the certificate. Corporate offices and campuses of players such as Marico (Mumbai), Wipro (Bengaluru), Mercedes-Benz India (Pune), ITC (Mysuru), HCL (Noida), Genpact (Gurugram), Hyundai Motor India (Kancheepuram) and Nestle India (Goa) have also got Eat Right Campus certificates.

Once enrolled in the programme, a campus or office premise undergoes a self-assessment or third-party audit by an FSSAI-empanelled agency, to identify gaps and areas of improvement based on a check-list. The campus administration is then given some time to address the gaps which may include training of food safety supervisors and on safe food practices.

Once these improvements are made, the campus undergoes a third-party audit and is given a rating on a five-star scale. If a campus scores three or more stars, it is certified as an Eat Right Campus, and the certification is valid for two years.

Ban on food delivery hits hotels

With no money to pay the staff and rent expenses, many restaurants and hotels might have to shut down their business

A restaurant at Thampanoor displaying the closed board ,B P Deepu

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Hotels and restaurants in the city have suffered extensively due to the Covid-19 crisis. However, they hoped to revive business through food delivery giants such as Swiggy and Zomato. Several restaurants created their own food delivery services with the help of their staff. But, with the spike in cases resulting in triple lockdown, restaurants and hotels were instructed to close, without being permitted to offer parcel service. With no money to pay the staff and rent, many restaurants and hotels might have to shut shop.

A few months ago, when the lockdown was eased, many restaurants in the city implemented safety measures and lifted shutters to welcome customers. As people were still uncomfortable to dine out, many restaurants had switched to food delivery services. But the triple lockdown has resulted in a huge financial crises. “We have already incurred a loss of over Rs 4 lakh ever since the lockdown began. We barely received dine-in customers when it was eased. However, the parcel service was quite helpful as we were able to meet half of the expenses. We were delivering food to our customers through our delivery staff, adhering to the safety protocols. But, now that is impossible,” said Unnikrishnan N P, owner of The Yellow Chilli.

 

Unnikrishnan also pointed out that home chefs were mushrooming across the city during the lockdown. “Even bakeries have started selling biriyani. This will affect restaurants even if we resume after the lockdown. We are getting a lot of enquiries from senior citizens and people who stay alone but we are unable to cater to them due to the strict restrictions,” he said. 

However, some are pinning their hopes on the government and waiting for further instructions. “Only parcel service from Janakeeya hotels by Kudumbashree is allowed. Although we have suffered a huge loss, we are awaiting a nod from the government to resume operations after the lockdown is eased,” said Fajis of Ali Baba & 41 Dishes, Sasthamangalam. Meanwhile, the Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association (KHRA) has already given a memorandum to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, district collector, Food Safety Commissioner and Mayor addressing their issues.

“There are more than 2,000 restaurants registered with KHRA functioning in the city whose owners have been paying taxes and rent for running the outlets. However, only the Janakeeya hotels have been allowed to deliver food instead of these restaurants. Moreover, home chefs across the city are being allowed to deliver food without any hindrance. Due to heavy losses, many restaurant owners are likely to shut their business and take up daily wage jobs. We have given a memorandum to the authorities concerned and waiting for the response,” said B Vijayakumar, secretary, KHRA.

Food safety team inspects Mohali shops, collects 35 samples

Shopkeepers were briefed on the Food Safety Act, and instructed to follow the guidelines issued by the district administration and health department to curb the spread of Covid-19

Quality of various food items and their expiry dates were checked in various shops by the food safety team in Mohali and samples taken through the mobile food testing van being run by the health department.

In order to ensure that quality food was being served to customers, a food safety team of the district health department visited various shops and departmental stores in Mohali and Kharar, and took 25 samples for testing.

Led by district health officer (DHO) Dr Subhash Kumar the inspection was part of the state government’s Tandrust Punjab Mission.

Quality of various food items and their expiry dates was checked and samples taken through the mobile food testing van being run by the health department.

Shopkeepers were briefed on the Food Safety Act, instructed to follow the guidelines issued by the district administration and health department to curb the spread of Covid-19, ensure cleanliness of the area, stock unadulterated items and dispose of products after date of expiry.

They were also asked to wear gloves and masks and not allow anyone to enter the shops without masks. The shopkeepers were also briefed on the Food Safety Act.

Dr Kumar also said that the checks were not to harass people but to ensure that clean and quality food items were made available to people.

The van will be available till July 31 for anyone wanting to get samples tested for quality, Dr Kumar said.

The vehicle is equipped with machinery to check the quality of milk , RO water and plain water, turmeric, salt, pepper, spices, cold drinks and desi ghee. A fee of Rs50 per item is charged.

Food safety officer Rajdeep Kaur can be contacted on 94644 21838 for more information.

Ethylene-ripened fruits safe or not for consumption, HC asks officials

Hyderabad: The Telangana high court on Thursday directed state food safety commissioner and food laboratory’s chief public analyst to inform it whether fruits ripen through ethylene gas are fit for human consumption and also to explain the difference between ethylene and ethephon.

A bench of Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B Vijaysen Reddy was hearing two pleas filed by ethylene sachet traders, who complained about police harassment hindering their business in Telangana. The bench reminded assistant solicitor general N Rajeswara Rao to obtain a counter from Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). 

The food safety authorities and labs had already declared that ethylene sachets were safe because it uses natural hormones within fruit to act as catalyst to ripen the fruits and hence the central authorities had issued guidelines approving the use of ethylene as a safe ripener, the bench said. “Hence, we cannot say that ethylene is a prohibited item. But the report of the amicus curiae was confusing, who brought in ethephon into the picture. This led to some confusion,” the bench said.

A little study into the matter revealed that edharine was the nickname of ethephon, it said. The amicus curiae’s report said that ethephon was an insecticide and hence cannot be used to ripen fruits. Petitioners’ counsel Dharmesh Jaiswal said that ethephon sachets produce ethylene gas, which would ripen the fruits, and was also approved by labs and authorities. The bench sought counters from the authorities and posted the case to July 30.

Ban on manufacture, storage and distribution of gutkha in Delhi banned for one more year

The city government’s Food Safety Department has been issuing notification on the ban of gutkha and pan masala for the last four years.

Food Safety Commissioner D N Singh issued a notification on the ban of these products on Wednesday. 

The Delhi government has extended the ban on manufacture, storage, sale and distribution of gutkha and pan masala for one more year.

Food Safety Commissioner D N Singh issued a notification on the ban of these products on Wednesday.

“Commissioner (Food Safety), National Capital Territory of Delhi, prohibits in the interest of public health for a period of one year in NCT the manufacture, storage, distribution, or sale of tobacco which is either flavoured, scented or mixed with any of the said additives, and whether going by the name or form of gutkha, pan masala, flavoured/scented tobacco, kharra...” the notification read.

The city government’s Food Safety Department has been issuing notification on the ban of gutkha and pan masala for the last four years.

However, there is no ban on cigarettes in the city.