Food Safety accorded highest priority

Release of CII-MOFPI Food Safety and Quality Publications by Shri Subodh Kant Sahai
on Food Safety and Quality Day, 16 October 2008

Honourable Minister of Food Processing Industries, Shri Subodh Kant Sahai delivered the inaugural address at the 2nd International Food Regulatory Summit – "Delivering Consumer Choice, Health and Safety", organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in collaboration with Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in Noida on 16-17 October. He mentioned that as part of its Awareness Campaign, his Ministry, in collaborative partnership with CII and others, was observing the year 2008-2009 as the “Food Safety and Quality Year” and 16th October as the “Food Safety and Quality Day” (FSQD) through various information dissemination activities for schools, colleges and the general masses.

To publicise the various activities constituting Food Safety & Quality Awareness during the 16th function, CII Institute of Quality, on a request from MoFPI, contributed with:

• A Power Point Presentation on Food Safety & Quality entitled “Food Safety & Quality Day 16th October, 2008”
• A four page FSQ pamphlet entitled “Food Safety -7 Points to do”

The above have been uploaded by MoFPI on their website and can be accessed through the link http://mofpi.nic.in/fsqy_0809/fsqy.htm

As part of this celebration, two booklets “CII – Food Safety Tips for Housewives” and “CII-14 Point Check on Food Safety for Street Vended Food” were released by Shri Sahai at the Inaugural session.

The booklet “CII – Food Safety Tips for Housewives” is aimed at disseminating food safety practices to the masses and shall serve as a handy ready-reckoner by listing some useful tips that should be adopted to prevent food borne illnesses in their homes and families. It includes pictorial presentation of handy food safety tips for housewives and the general consumers on personal hygiene, hand wash, purchasing, handling food before storage, refrigeration & storage of food, defrosting /thawing, prevention of food from cross contamination, pre-preparation & cooking. It also includes useful tips on drinking water & feeding bottles, cleaning & sanitation of home as well kitchens, serving practices, precautions for handling left over food, pest control in kitchens and precautions for using pesticides.

The “CII-14 Point Check on Food Safety for Street Vended Food” is an initiative to create awareness on good hygiene practices among consumers and street food vendors. CII Institute of Quality, with the support of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, has prepared this simple yet informative booklet containing a pictorial checklist of Food Safety & Hygienic Practices for Street Food Vendors. As a fitting tribute to the Summit Inauguration, the same was also released by Mr. Sahai. The booklet is aimed at disseminating food safety & hygienic practices to the consumers and street food vendors and shall serve as a handy ready-reckoner for preventing food borne illnesses. Pictorial illustrations of the checkpoints emphasise quality of inputs and ingredients, transportation, reception and storage of inputs, vending location, features of vending cart conducive to Good Hygiene practices and recommended utensils and cutting tools. Importance of the material used for construction, cleaning and storage practices, hygienic practices & personal hygiene, safe food preparation, cooking and handling, transportation of prepared food, sale point requirements, protection and serving of food, handling and disposal of waste, pest control and training are also included.

For further information, please contact Dr. Indrani Ghose, Principal Counsellor-Food Safety and Quality, CII Institute of Quality at indrani.ghose@ciionline.org or visit http://www.cii-iq.in/


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