The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, West Region, is organizing a mass training program, “SWASHTYA SURAKSHA SANKALP,” for street food vendors at the Kavivarya Suresh Bhat Auditorium in Nagpur on October 8, 2024, at 10:00 AM.
The event will be conducted in the august presence of the Hon. Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Shri Prataprao Jadhav. Officials from FSSAI, including Shri U. S. Dhyani, IRS, Executive Director, and Ms. Pritee Chaudhary, IRS, Regional Director (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, West Region), along with other dignitaries, will also grace this event.
The FSSAI’s Food Handler Training Program is designed to ensure that individuals responsible for handling, storing, preparing, and serving food adhere to strict safety and hygienic guidelines to avoid contamination and guarantee that the food is safe for consumers. This program, a one-of-a-kind initiative, is expected to witness the participation of over 2,000 street food vendors, with a strong emphasis placed on safe food practices.
This program complies with the announcement made by the Hon’ble Minister for Health & Family Welfare and Chemicals & Fertilizers on World Food Safety Day in 2023, which tasked FSSAI with training 2.5 million food handlers by the end of the fiscal year 2025–2026. In a meeting presided over by Shri Bhushan Gagrani, Commissioner, MCGM, and co-chaired by Shri G. Kamala Vardhan Rao, CEO, FSSAI, this initiative was also jointly proposed.
Street food provides insight into the culinary customs, flavors, and social dynamics of a community, making it a priceless component of cultural heritage. In our country, it is a beloved part of daily life due to its accessibility and cultural significance. As street food becomes increasingly popular, there is a growing need to ensure that it is safe to eat and to help vendors grow their businesses.
The FSSAI’s FOSTAC program aims to provide food handlers—including street vendors—with the knowledge and skills needed to ensure food safety and hygienic practices. It entails different tiers of training programs that address personal hygiene, safe food handling, and preventing food contamination during preparation and serving. The purpose of these training programs is to educate food vendors on government-mandated food safety regulations and the means to adhere to them.