Hoteliers told to follow food safety standards

Patancheru: Sangareddy Trainee Collector Jitish V Patil on Thursday called upon those thriving in food business to compulsorily follow food safety standards in canteens, hotels and restaurants and maintain cleanliness.

Addressing a gathering of NGOs' representatives running canteens in the collectorate, hospitals, prisons and MNR Geetam institutions, he observed that healthy life was a result of serving good and nutritious food.

Jitish stated that it was the responsibility of those involved in food business to follow safety standards and serve clean and good food items. 'Such standards must be followed by the food businessmen'. For this purpose, a day-long training to the cooks was proposed to be given in December and to enlighten them on clean maintenance of kitchens.

He stated that before the training, food safety officials would inspect the kitchens and issue certificates after checking whether the prescribed standards were being followed.

The certificates would be much useful for those involved in food business/hotels/restaurants, as big institutions needing the services of caterers would book them, thus paving the way for growth of business, Jitish suggested.

One trained person could supervise 25 persons generating confidence among them, he said, adding that arrangements were being made for conducting the one-day training programme.

Thirty persons would be trained in a batch, he said, while seeking suitable details from AMR Geetam educational institutions and others. The training would cost Rs.15,000 for each candidate, jitish added.

Among those present on the occasion were jail superintendents, representatives of Geetam institutions, hospitals, collectorate canteen, NGOs.