National, June 2018: Food safety and hygiene is of paramount importance to prevent illnesses with focus on achieving the highest possible level of good health and well-being of our population. Promoting hygienic food handling practices and increasing awareness on personal hygiene can help in building a strong foundation of good food habits amongst people.
In an attempt to inculcate food hygiene across the country, Kraft Heinz India as part of its CSR initiative, has taken a small step in this direction by training over 500 street food vendors under FOSTAC (Food Safety Training & Certification). This is based on the framework of Clean Street Food campaign of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and has been pioneered in partnership with Food Safety Awareness and Training Organization (FSATO).
With the onset of monsoon, food-borne diseases will be on the rise, making this an appropriate and a timely decision to work with street food vendors to instil best practices for food safety and hygiene. Commenting on the partnership, Sankalp Potbhare, Managing Director, Kraft Heinz India, said, “At Kraft Heinz, our objective is ‘To be the Best Food Company, Growing a Better World’. In India, literally every street is famous for some or the other food delicacy, and our aim is to engage with these small vendors to create awareness and promote overall food quality experience. Through our partnership with FSATO, we hope to decrease the instances of food-borne illnesses and help improve food safety.” Mr. Potbhare further highlighted that as part of the company’s social commitment, this initiative is aimed at capability building amongst the unorganised sector which will disseminate content of FSSAI’s Clean Street Food campaign, available in the public domain.
Says Rajvir Singh Deol, Managing Director, FSATO, “We have started Swachh Khana Swasth Grahak programme to raise food safety awareness through trainings and workshops. We are confident that our collaboration with Kraft Heinz will strengthen knowledge of the vendors on improving hygienic practices and making available safe food.”
To begin with, Kraft Heinz has proposed a blend of activities in the State of Uttar Pradesh. 500 street food vendors in Uttar Pradesh will receive training from FOSTAC trained Professionals on Safe Food Handling and Hygiene module developed by FSSAI. This will enable food vendors to serve clean, hygienic food and gain trust amongst consumers.
On completing the training, the participants will receive a Certificate of Registration issued by the Department of Food Safety and Drug Administration, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh, valid for one year, and Street Food Vendor Food Safety training certificate issued by FSSAI. These certificates can be displayed at the food stalls to help the vendors operate seamlessly.
Additionally, Kraft Heinz will impart training to the milk farmers on clean milk production and collection practices. Using the DART (Detecting Adulterants and Rapid Testing) booklet developed by FSSAI, Kraft Heinz will educate milk farmers on prevention and detection of milk adulterants.
Under the partnership, the programmes will be rolled out in phased manner with the first leg to be initiated by June 2018 in Uttar Pradesh.