Food chain owners, executives attend CII food safety training

Kolkata: About 50 owners and executives from hotel and restaurant groups, clubs and canteens, food joints & eateries attended a Food Safety Training and Certificate (FOSTAC) programme organised by CII on Thursday.

The programme, which was inaugurated by Godhuli Mukherjee, the Food Commissioner of Bengal, is a part of its Surakshit Khadya Abhiyan (Safe Food Campaign), included specialized training sessions on how and why one can maintain quality and hygiene – right from the stage of procuring raw materials, cooking, cleaning and storing to serving and transporting food.

"We explained to the participants why they should religiously follow the guidelines formed by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) ,"said A K Sen, CII FACE Faculty & National Level Resource Person (FoSTaC), Food Safety & Quality, FSSAI.

"All those engaged in the business of preparing, serving and supplying food items need to be quality conscious and responsible," he said.

Sen lauded the efforts of the state government for playing a proactive role in the wake of allegations of carcass meat being sold and served in and around the city. "The Government is taking measures, carrying out regular inspections and taking actions," he said, adding that the implementation of FSSAI standards should remain a priority.

Sagar Daryani, Co-Founder & CEO, Wow Momo Foods Pvt Ltd, and Chair, CII ER Food Safety Core Group, admitted that the "rotten meat scandal" gave a bad blow to the industry as a whole. "In my own company, business was 37 percent negative till May. June saw a revival. July is even better," Daryani said. "Many eateries in Kolkata have been forced to suspend operations, CII strongly advocates regular training in food safety in this backdrop," Daryani added.

The day-long programme ended with a test. "Upon qualifying the test, the participants will be certified as FOSTAC-Trained – a mandatory FSSAI regulation since 2017," said Sen.