Food
FSSAI launches SNF@Workplace initiative to stem obesity, non-communicable diseases
Country’s premier food watchdog also plans to evaluate organisations based on systems put in place to promote health and wellness
By Vibha Varshney
Published: Tuesday 15 May 2018
Most office goers consume at least one meal at the office and this initiative hopes to ensure that this meal is healthy and nutritious. Unsafe food leads to illness and absenteeism which reduces productivity and costs our economy as much as Rs 60,000 crore—9 per cent of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The initiative would set processes and protocols to help people imbibe this culture of good food into their lives. “We are not mindful of what we are eating,” says Pawan Kumar Agarwal, CEO of FSSAI at the launch.
To aid workplaces and build a policy framework, FSSAI has also released The Orange Book: Your Guide to Safe and Nutritious Food at the Workplace. This sets down the role of stakeholders such as the administration, canteen establishment and the employees at a workplace in ensuring safe food. The book was released by Vinod Paul, member NITI Aayog. According to him, in order to benefit from the demographic dividend, it is important that employee productivity is improved through efforts like this. Ambrish Mithal, head of the department of Endocrinology and Diabetes at Medanta—the Medicity said that people spend long time at offices and availability and access to healthy food options here has to be easy.
The country’s premier food watchdog also plans to evaluate organisations based on systems put in place to promote health and wellness. These includes initiatives such as using licensed vendors for the canteen, personal hygiene of food handlers and safe food practices as per Food Safety Management System guidelines and having trained and certified food safety supervisor.
Empanelled audit agencies, in accordance with the Food Safety and Standards (Food Safety Auditing) Regulation 2017, will be assigned to evaluate interested workplaces. Reviewed workplaces will be given rating with 3,4 or 5 stars based on quality of food and canteens and well as the activities focused around ensuring food safety.
FSSAI will train people responsible for providing food in workplaces and help organisers create awareness about good food too. Paul urged organisation to announce on this Independence Day that all government offices and private sector would ensure that safe food is served in offices.
Before SNF@Workplace, the FSSAI had launched SNF@Home and SNF@School. They now plan to launch SNF@Hospitals in a month's time. This will ensure that safe and nutritious food is served to patients at hospitals.
Related Stories
- WHO wants to completely remove trans fats from food supply by 2023
- FSSAI’s new initiative to ensure safe food from caterers to consumers
- India’s top colleges not following food safety standards: FSSAI report
- Can FSSAI ensure safe food at places of worship without hurting religious sentiments?
India Environment Portal Resources :
- Burden of Packaged Food on Schoolchildren: Based on the CSE Survey ‘Know Your Diet’
- Report of the Expert Group on issue of high Fat, Sugar and Salt (HFSS) and its health effects on Indian population
- Associations between fast food and physical activity environments and adiposity in mid-life: cross-sectional, observational evidence from UK Biobank
- Order of the High Court of Delhi ban on junk food and carbonated drinks in schools, 25/02/2015
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