Hyderabad: In response to the surge in street food vendors across Telangana, the food safety department is working to regulate and bring them under the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSS Act), 2006. This includes mandatory registration and basic training on food handling and hygiene.
Recently, FoSTaC (Food Safety Training and Certification) sessions were held in Sangareddy district from August 21 to August 24. Sponsored by Nestlé India and organized by NASVI, these sessions trained 400 food vendors.
The training covered best practices in food preparation and ingredient selection. Vendors received certificates and kits with aprons, gloves, headcaps, and towels.
Further sessions are planned across Telangana to continue this initiative.
Food safety officials raid restaurants in Secunderabad
The Telangana food safety department conducted more inspections at various hotels across the state and uncovered widespread violations.
At Hotel Sandarshini, food articles stored inside the refrigerator were covered but not labelled properly. Moreover, the kitchen premises were not fitted with an insect-proof screen.
The Golden Crown multi-cuisine restaurant was found to be working without a valid FSSAI license with several violations of hygiene conditions. Officers found water stagnation, open dustbins, a lack of insectproofing, a greasy and flaky ceiling, and no pest control records in the restaurant.
Food handlers at the Secunderabad restaurant were found without wearing aprons, hairnets or gloves and were also defaulting their medical fitness certificates. Food items without labels were found to be kept for sale.
One of the most popular restaurants in Secunderabad, 4M Biryani was also raided. While the restaurant had displayed an FSSAI licence and maintained pest control records, some food handlers were found without any hygiene measures such as hairnets, aprons or gloves.
The restaurant’s kitchen premises were found to be open to the outside environment without insect-proofing, and semi-prepared food articles were not covered or labelled properly. Dustbins in the restaurant were seen uncovered and flooring was found slipper.
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