Hyderabad: Health minister Damodara Rajanarsimha handed over Food Safety Standards Association of India (FSSAI) licenses and registration certificates to a few street food vendors and several restaurants and kitchens were given hygiene rating certificates on Tuesday.
Rajnarsimha also awarded Bhog certifications to Warangal's Bhadrakali temple and Hyderabad’s Sri Jaya Lakshmi Mata Yoga Centre for maintaining high food hygiene standards. Telangana now boasts ten Bhog-certified religious institutions, including the Yadadri and Mahankali temples.
The minister urged vendors not to compromise on food safety. He added that food safety teams will be strengthened in the coming months. He was speaking at an awareness programme organised by the food safety department at the Indian Institute of Health and Family Welfare, Vengalaraonagar, here to encourage street food vendors to register themselves with the FSSAI and get licences.
"Now, there is only one food safety lab in Nacharam and we want to modernise it. We are also planning to set up three more food testing labs at Warangal, Nizamabad and Mahabubnagar. Around five new mobile food testing labs will be launched. These labs will have a capacity to test at least 24,000 food samples per year," he stated.
"Officials encouraged us to get licences but it will require an effort to renew licences every year, especially when the request for renewal needs to be made at least 180 days before the expiry date," said Dudekula Chinna Hussaini, a fruit vendor from Uppal who got a registration certificate at the event.
A restaurant owner from Toli Chowki said that training, for both vendors and restaurant food handlers, is important before the officials can issue notices to those who make mistakes.
Recently, the commissioner of food safety banned the sale and production of mayonnaise prepared with unpasteurised eggs. On this, many food operators opined that while it is important to take steps to ensure the safety of citizens, an overall ban has compelled them to use alternatives. "We use eggless mayo now but it is a little costlier than the egg one," said Syed from Pista House.
Food safety commissioner R.V. Karnan informed that 3,774 licenses and registrations have been issued to hotels and street food vendors in a month. Training sessions on food safety have reached around 1,500 participants across key districts, with 60 more sessions planned to train 3,000 additional individuals. Vendors are also receiving hygiene kits to ensure compliance.
