Mumbai: The next time you eat bhel puri or pani puri at Girgaum and Juhu Chowpatty, you will not have to worry about the hygiene and standard of food. The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) have directed all the stall owners on both the beaches to strictly follow the basic food safety and standard guidelines. This is being done, because these popular street food with spicy chutneys are often associated with stomach upset, loose motions and illness.
“The main aim of the project is to promote local foods such as pani puri, bhel puri, vada pav, pav bhaji and other popular food here as safe. A number of tourists visit these places and should enjoy eating the local foods without any qualms. We want basic standards of hygiene and quality to be maintained,” said Shailesh Adhav, assistant commissioner (food), FDA.
The beaches will also be declared Clean Street Food Hubs (CSFHs) by FSSAI and FDA only after the stall owners have followed the guidelines of food safety and standard. “Girgaum and Juhu Chowpatty will be declared as CSFHs once the officials give satisfactory remarks in the detailed report submitted regarding compliance of food safety standards,” Adhav said.
CSFH is a programme which is being run by the apex food regulator authority to upgrade the street food. This is to enable Food Business Operators (FBOs) through basic food safety management skills such as, sanitation and hygiene. Besides, these places will also provide more seating area and clean environment with appropriate garbage disposal mechanism.
Under the clean street food hub initiative, FDA officials have trained nearly 90 people from the 30 stalls at Girgaum Chowpatty for hygiene, sanitation, nutritional status of food items, transparency of food preparation in the kitchen and waste disposal.
The staff will have to wear gloves, uniforms and caps while making or serving the street food. Rajesh Singh, a pav bhaji stall owner, said, “The training was an eye-opener for us, since lacked the basic information that maintaining basic hygiene can bring change the prospect of our business. This effort to help us sell hygienic food is a welcome move.”
Chandrakant Pawar, joint commissioner, FDA said, Girgaum and Juhu Chowpatty are the most popular tourist spots for local, domestic and foreign tourists. “A detailed report has be compiled before declaring these two chowpattys as CSFHs. Now the audit of both Girgaum and Juhu Chowpatty has started and is in the final phase. We expect it to be completed by the end of February,” said Pawar.
