A special squad of the Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA), UP Police, and administrative officers will now ensure that only hygienically prepared food is served in Uttar Pradesh’s restaurants. The squad will also make sure that the details of the food and names of the restaurant/eatery owner are displayed in bold and the food is prepared and served under CCTV surveillance.
The move is part of the UP government’s latest food-safety guidelines introduced to curb incidents of food adulteration. The fresh guidelines were welcomed by UP’s restaurateurs and eatery owners, who are now preparing to implement the new rules.
Of late, the state has witnessed a spurt in instances where human waste, including saliva and urine, was mixed with food and served. Officials with the UP government said it was the recent instances which prompted the state government to set fresh guidelines regarding preparation and serving of food.
“Recent reports from across the country have revealed cases of food items such as juice, dal, and roti being adulterated with human waste, inedible, or filthy substances. These actions are atrocious and pose a grave threat to public health,” a UP government statement said while quoting UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who recently held a high-profile meeting with top-level government officials, including from the FSDA.
“Such malicious practices are completely unacceptable. And to prevent such occurrences in UP, concrete measures must be put in place to ensure food safety and protect the health of the common man,” the chief minister said.
Recently, a juice vendor in Ghaziabad was arrested on charges of mixing urine in the juices he served. Similarly, on September 12, a video showing a teenager spitting on rotis while preparing them at an eatery in Saharanpur district went viral on social media, leading to the arrest of the facility’s owner.
Referring to such incidents, the UP CM also gave instructions for a thorough investigation and verification of all hotels, dhabas, restaurants, and related establishments in the state. Besides, the CM has also given instructions to amend the rules as per the need while ensuring the safety of the general public. “Dhabas, restaurants, and food establishments should be thoroughly inspected, with police verification of all employees. Necessary amendments should also be made to the Food Safety and Standards Act to ensure the purity and sanctity of food items,” the statement further stated.
Other than this, the fresh guidelines also make it mandatory for UP restaurant and eatery owners to ensure their staff wear proper masks and gloves and cover all areas, including kitchens of the establishment under CCTV surveillance. Additionally, the order states that the operators must display their name and address at food centers, directing FSDA, UP Police, local administration to form a joint team and to ensure the strict implementation of the fresh guidelines.
Hamid Hussain, owner of a famous eatery in Lucknow’s Hussainabad, said: “We welcome the UP government order that stressed on the preparation of unadulterated food. In fact, it’s the responsibility of restaurant owners and the chef to maintain hygiene and cleanliness at the restaurant and its kitchen. I believe that the order should be for all, be it small or big eatery owners. The government should also include street vendors.”
He also hailed the move and said that getting hygienically prepared food is people’s right. “I think getting hygienically prepared food is people’s right. I don’t think that hardly any of the restaurateurs have any objection to the order. We should ensure that the food is prepared in a clean environment, while the people engaged in preparing food should wear masks and gloves,” said Abu Bakr, an owner of another famous eatery from Lucknow. Other restaurant owners also hailed the move and geared up to implement the fresh guidelines.
This is not the first time the UP government has shot an order making it mandatory for food stall owners to put their names on display. Earlier this year, the UP government had ordered food stalls and fruit vendors along Kanwar Yatra routes to display the names of shop owners. However, the Supreme Court put the directive on hold as an interim measure on July 22.
A two-judge bench observed that the focus should be on the quality of food served, not the community of those preparing or selling it. The UP government, however, argued that the directives aimed to promote transparency and informed choice for kanwariyas. Similar measures were introduced by the Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh governments.
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