In preparation for Commonwealth Games 2010, the government plans to bring in stringent norms for restaurants to ensure hygiene standards. Food handlers will be required to observe minimum basic standards of hygienic practices such as wearing caps and gloves, and clipping nails, so far missing in most eateries.
To ensure effective implementation, food safety audits will be conducted by experts aided by the Quality Council of India.
“The system will start working within a few months,” said V N Gaur, chief executive officer of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. So far, quality checks at restaurants were covered under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, which did not have detailed provisions to ensure food safety. As a result, while the more expensive restaurants may have had high quality standards in place, most smaller businesses lack them.
The government, overall, has begun a serious process of enforcing standards for the food and restaurant industry across the country through the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
In fact, the government is planning to repeal a whole host of Central Acts that look at food quality — the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act (PFA), 1954; Fruit Products Order, 1955; Meat Food Products Order, 1973; Vegetable Oil Products (Control) Order 1947; Edible Oils Packaging (Regulation) Order, 1988; Solvent Extracted Oil, De-Oiled Meal and Edible Flour (Control) Order, 1967; Milk and Milk Products Order, 1992 have a more effective hold on quality issues.
“A large number of sections have been notified and the remaining ones will be done shortly,” said Gaur.
More From This Section
As part of the efforts to make food safer, the government will lay down detailed stipulations for maintenance of hygienic conditions at restaurants. Officials said they were hopeful of putting the system in place before the start of the Commonwealth Games.
The new good hygienic practices (GHP) and good manufacturing practices (GMP) would look at the location and layout of a restaurant before granting it licence. The existing ones would need to ensure that their kitchens adhere to food safety norms.
There would be separate areas for raw and cooked food. Temperature would need to be at specified levels for different food items. And to prevent any contamination between vegetarian and non-vegetarian food, they would need to be placed in separate areas.
While some of the measures are implemented by restaurants catering to a clientèle of higher income level, there are no legal provisions to make it mandatory. Now, FSSAI would bring in expert food handlers to conduct safety audits of these restaurants.
The government also plans to get auditing firms accredited before conducting food audits. In the first phase of its implementation, the government would provide training to food safety auditors, said Gaur. The cost of this auditing would be borne by the business house.
“We are planning to fix charges so the costs do not become exorbitant for small businesses,” said Gaur.
To also ensure better implementation of the scheme, states would have food safety commissioners. Health ministry officials said the implementation of PFA was poor as it was being administered by the directorate of health services, which was not interested in food safety. Moreover, at the district level, with no independent department, the food inspectors under PFA were mostly reporting to the local health authorities such as sub divisional medical officers.
Most food safety commissioners have been appointed in the states, said officials. Under the new Food Safety Act, adjudicating officers would be able to quickly dispose of cases involving minor penalties. Special courts would handle the penalty for offences involving punishment of three years and above.