Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), Uttarakhand has been constituted on May 30, 2019 by Uttarakhand Government to effectively implement various Food Safety and Drugs Control laws e.g. Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 and Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. FDA Uttarakhand is headed by Food Safety and Drug Commissioner, and has its headquarter at Office of Director General, Medical Health and Family welfare, Danda Lakhond, Sahastradhara Road, Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
Clean Street Food Hub initiative of FSSAI is an effort to revive and upgrade Indian Street food vending to the level of established food courts. It aims to develop certified places of eating out where the benchmarks for safe and hygienic food would be meticulously implemented.
The initiative will raise hygienic standards and revolutionise street food vending making it popular for both domestic and international tourists who otherwise stay away from street food due to concerns of lack of hygiene and sanitation.
It also provides a good opportunity for showcasing the rich traditional cuisine of the State, while nudging the vendors and petty food business operators into food ecosystem that would provide a safe and hygiene local eating experience.
The project involves training and capacity building of Street Food Vendors and ensuring proper regulatory oversight as per the requirements of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
Rishikesh yatra bus stand was identified by FDA , Uttarakhand to develop a cluster of street food venders at Rishikesh, Dehradun as a Clean street food hub. THDC India Limited having a vision of sustainable development in Uttarakhand played a vital role in the vision of realising this project CSFH , Rishikesh by extending their support through SEWA THDC under CSR Initiative.
Before launch of program different stake holders for partnering in progress of CSFH were identified which includes yatra bus stand association, Rishikesh , funding partners-THDC, Audit Partner -URS Certification Limited, Training partner-Quantum Management Services , Local sanitation support - Nagar Nigam (Rishikesh). Meetings in this connection were conducted by FDA, Dehradun to finalize roadmap and project guidance document was established.
Road map for CFSH included Awareness campaigns by FDA , Audits by URS Certification Limited, Trainings by Quantum Management services , Schedule IV implementation by FDA, Licensing/ Registration drives by FSM/ Quantum Management services, Sanitation support by Nagar Nigam, Rishikesh
Involvement of pretty FBO (street venders) has a vital role in implementation and to bring motivation multiple drives on awareness were conducted by FDA at the identified CSFH -Yatra Bus Stand , Rishikesh which included distribution of visual aids on food hygiene, do’s and don’ts at authorized premises etc.
Awareness campaigns were followed by Initial Audit by URS Certification Limited , FosTac Trainings conducted by M/s Quantum Management , Intermediate audit by URS Certification Limited.
Yatra bus station Rishikesh will be first certified clean street food hub in Uttarakhand in near future.
Along with the CSFH, Rishikesh some other sites for such benchmark are identified in Tehri and other district in state of Uttarakhand for which THDC had promised to extend their support.
Fresh produce includes fruits, vegetables and herbs that are raw and have not been processed or altered by any preservation process before being sold to consumers. They are the major source of nutrient in our daily diets.
Distribution of fresh produce is challenging because they are of a perishable nature. Local retailers play a key role in their distribution to consumers. However local markets/ retailers are perceived to be unsafe due to the widespread concerns on poor hygiene and sanitation/waste disposal system, use of banned ripening agents, use of artificial colours, harmful acids and chemicals, sale of non-organic produce as organic at high process, use of non-potable water on fresh fruits and vegetables.
Organised retail sector includes Reliance fresh, Big Bazar, Nature’s Basket, APMCs etc.
Unorganised retail sector comprises of pavement vendors, non-permanent shops in the market, pushcart vendors and mandis.
In order to upgrade the existing conditions of fresh fruit and vegetable markets across the country and provide safe and clean produce to consumers the FSSAI has framed some benchmark guidelines for hygienic and safety requirements. In addition, infrastructure support in providing common facilities like cold rooms, ripening chambers, common hygiene station for vendors, waste disposal areas, etc. will also be part of the initiative with the support of state government bodies and other stakeholders. Large scale training, certification and capacity building of vendors would be an integral pillar of this initiative. Credibility may be provided by recognising such markets as “Clean and Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Market”.
At Dehradun two sites had been identified for implementing best practices and upgrade them to “Clean and Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Market”.
Awareness program for roadmap had been conducted with mandi samitis and other stakeholders , Initiative had been welcomed by all stakeholders with the approach of integrating best practices in the supply chain through training by FosTac impanelled training partner and followed by Audit by third party as per the guidance document.
Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), Uttarakhand has been constituted on May 30, 2019 by Uttarakhand Government to effectively implement various Food Safety and Drugs Control laws e.g. Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 and Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. FDA Uttarakhand is headed by Food Safety and Drug Commissioner, and has its headquarter at Office of Director General, Medical Health and Family welfare, Danda Lakhond, Sahastradhara Road, Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), Uttarakhand has been constituted on May 30, 2019 by Uttarakhand Government to effectively implement various Food Safety and Drugs Control laws e.g. Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 and Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. FDA Uttarakhand is headed by Food Safety and Drug Commissioner, and has its headquarter at Office of Director General, Medical Health and Family welfare, Danda Lakhond, Sahastradhara Road, Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), Uttarakhand has been constituted on May 30, 2019 by Uttarakhand Government to effectively implement various Food Safety and Drugs Control laws e.g. Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 and Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. FDA Uttarakhand is headed by Food Safety and Drug Commissioner, and has its headquarter at Office of Director General, Medical Health and Family welfare, Danda Lakhond, Sahastradhara Road, Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
Dehradun city is the most populated city in the state of Uttarakhand and has always been known for its lush green environment, its education institutions along with its special bakery products since the past many decades. With time; bakeries, ready to eat food outlets and café enterprises have multiplied rapidly in the evolving city landscape.
With many more people, particularly the young, stepping out of their homes and eating out, the use of edible has increased manifold. This has naturally resulted in a larger generation of Used Cooking Oil (UCO). Keeping these realities in mind, the Food and Drug administration took the initiative to integrate the philosophy of RUCO with FBOs in the year 2019.
The Implementation by FDA, Dehradun was planned keeping the 4 Pillar Implementation model comprising FDA, FBOs, Recycler and Aggregator. There were challenges to generate awareness, create the necessary infrastructure and ensure a sustainable ecosystem. However, with persistent efforts and cooperation from all stakeholders, the Dehradun Model of RUCO Management developed by FDA is now firmly entrenched in the local, city FBO landscape.
To start with a clear roadmap was established. As the first step, FBOs who are large generators of UCO were identified and several rounds of discussions were held with them to generate necessary awareness and engagement. CSIR-IIP, the Dehradun based Govt of India organization came forward as recycler of UCO with the technical expertise under the leadership of Dr. Neeraj Attrey, Principal Senior Scientist at IIP. SDC Foundation, a city based Civil Society Organization was identified, trained and coached to work as the aggregator.
Regular meetings and awareness workshops were conducted at every sub division and with local associations such as Halwai association, Restaurant and Café association and Bakery outlets. The goal was to mobilize the FBOS through awareness and also to recognize their efforts. Some of these talks were branded as Cafe Talks and green certificates were awarded to the participating FBO outlets.
The initial campaign was conducted in the presence of Commissioner (FDA). 600 litres of UCO were aggregated by SDC Foundation and handed over to IIP for conversion to biofuel. Almost 20 FBO entrepreneurs were also recognized for their contribution and partnership in the event.
Different drives by the local FDA team are conducted as routine programs and special drives at Holi, Deepawali and festive season to enforce UCO regulation using TPC Meter. Strict monitoring on the UCO supply chain is being done. This has resulted in an increase of UCO collection and discouraged the sale of UCO to unauthorized vendors. We believe that this helps create a green economy and ecosystem.
The journey from zero litres to 6000 plus litres was crossed in less than one year with increasing involvement of FBOs. The RUCO journey has also crossed the milestone of 7800 Litres UCO collected from Dehradun city, safeguarding land and water contamination through such huge quantum of UCO.
The drive was recently energized in February 2021 in the august presence of Shri Arun Singhal, CEO, FSSAI. 700 + Litres UCO was flagged off by Ho'ble CEO Sir during the program which brought greater momentum in implementation. The flag off was covered extensively by local media.
The Dehradun RUCO Model has inspired the launch of similar models across the other districts and areas of Uttarakhand. Char Dham Yatra, Haridwar Maha Kumbh 2021 are examples of replication of the Dehradun Model in Uttarakhand.
We are now working towards promoting cashless processes through which FBOS will receive bio fuel for use in their enterprises for the UCO that is collected from their outlets. We are also working towards developing mobile models that can convert UCO into RUCO on spot and in the presence of the FBO. We are keen to help and support in the expansion of the above Dehradun Model across all the districts of the nation.
Training programs for Food Business Operators are regularly being conducted in Uttarakhand through FSSAI empanelled training partners. 193 training programs have been conducting and 3287 food business operators have been trained by now.
Testing of food to instil confidence amongst consumers that food is safe to eat is important part of the food safety ecosystem. However, number and spread of food testing labs in the country is grossly inadequate. While, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is working towards having more food testing labs both in the public as well as private sector, it has also initiated a scheme to provide mobile units for food testing to reach out to consumers through as many touch points as possible. These mobile units are called “Food Safety on Wheels”.
In Uttarakhand, we have one “Food Safety on Wheels” (FSWs) which is being utilized for executing the functions of
During financial year 2020-20 samples of 120 food items were checked and 45 awareness programs organised trough FSW.
Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), Uttarakhand has been constituted on May 30, 2019 by Uttarakhand Government to effectively implement various Food Safety and Drugs Control laws e.g. Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 and Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. FDA Uttarakhand is headed by Food Safety and Drug Commissioner, and has its headquarter at Office of Director General, Medical Health and Family welfare, Danda Lakhond, Sahastradhara Road, Dehradun, Uttarakhand.