Agri-food major Cargill India and industry body CII today launched a nationwide campaign 'Surakshit Khadya Abhiyan' (safe food campaign) to create awareness about safe and hygienic food among street vendors and others.
A year-long campaign, which aims to build a culture of food safety in the country, would focus on sensitising street vendors and other stakeholders on maintaining cleanliness hygiene and sanitation to ensure safe food.
"Creating awareness about safe food is important to address the food borne diseases. If street vendors are taught about the importance of selling safe food, 50 per cent of the problem will be solved," Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said after launching the campaign here.
Noting that food safety is an inseparable part of food security, he said, "No nation can guarantee food security if food in not completely safe. Food borne diseases, which have severe health and economic consequences, can be prevented by food safety practices only."
The initiative complements the government's "Jago Grahak Jago" multi-media campaign, which makes consumers aware of their rights and demands.
On the occasion, the Minister also launched a website and a logo of the campaign and also signed a pledge for adopting safe food practices.
Consumer Affairs Secretary C Viswanath said street food is also integral to the eating habits of Indian consumers due to its wide ethnic and multi-cuisine spread. So, there is a need to improve hygiene and safety of food being sold by street vendors.
Asserting that access to safe food is a basic human right, Cargill India Chairman Siraj Chaudhry said, "In today's complex and inter-dependent food supply chain, food safety is a shared responsibility of the farmers, the food industry, regulators as well as consumers."
Under the campaign, safe food walkathons, interactive sessions and media dissemination programmes would be organized across metros and tier II cities.
Other partners include Consumer Organization VOICE, and National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI).
