Improvement of quality of food prepared at your local restaurants might take a little longer as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) department is finding it difficult to tap the unorganised sector vendors who supply food material to hotels and restaurants.
FDA has now sought help from hotel and restaurant owners to get their vendors and food transporters registered with the FDA.
The new Food Safety Standard Act of India makes it mandatory for any person who sells, manufactures and transports any kind of food or consumable item in the state, to be registered with the FDA. According to an FDA official, the department is finding it difficult to reach the unorganised sector, of which some are unaware of the act, while others are reluctant to register themselves.
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Samosas on a plate. Picture for representational purpose only
“We have sought help from the restaurant owners, asking them to get their vendors registered with the FDA. We have also made an appeal to restaurant owners not to buy food and goods from dealers who are not registered with FDA,” said Suresh Deshmukh, joint commissioner (food).
“We are doing every bit to get hygiene standards upgraded, but unfortunately, not many have come forward to get registered with us,” said a source from the FDA
Sudhakar Shetty, president, Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association said that the association is already doing their bit to register their vendors. “It is a tough task to register each and every vendor of ours. However, we are appealing to all of our vendors to get registered with the FDA. This initiative will take at least one more year to be implemented strictly. We cannot just stop buying materials because we are a food business,” he said.u00a0
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