By Sabyasachi Samajdar, FoodBizDaily.com Bureau Chief – New Delhi
July 2, 2009 – The Government of India is planning to introduce a scheme soon to improve the quality of street food that will look into aspects of food safety and hygiene, said Mr. Ashok Sinha, Secretary, Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), Government of India.
Speaking at the 4th Food Safety and Quality Summit organized by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here today Mr. Sinha said, “Various ambitious infrastructure development projects have been considered.”
While advocating uniform international standards for food exports, Mr. Sinha pointed that varying food standards for exports affects the interest of developing economies like India.
He further stated that the onus of maintaining quality and safety of food rests on all the stakeholders, right from the farmers to the consumers, especially in the backdrop of India being the second largest producer of food in the world after China.
He urged that those who have succeeded in ensuring quality of food must come out to mentor other counterparts in the industry.
Mr. Girdhar Gyani, Secretary General, Quality Council of India (QCI) stated that QCI has been appointed as a partner by Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and will be developing food safety criteria, guidelines, standards and work as a conforming assessment body.
The food processing industry in India is worth US$ 200 billion and has been left largely unregulated. Towards this cause, QCI is working on the accreditation mechanism for issuing quality and food safety certificates to 1,000 eateries before the commonwealth games and will work with 50 food safety labs as a pilot project.
The summit aimed at driving up-gradation of food safety & quality in Indian food processing sector, sharing information and best practices to enhance competitiveness of the Indian Food Sector, the way forward and providing a platform to interact with food industry stakeholders.
Mr. Uttam Chatterjee, Chairman, CII Expert Group on Food Safety and Quality proposed that the food chains need to achieve organisational excellence by achieving excellent results with respect to performance, customers, people, and society through leadership driving policy and strategy. CII’s initiatives are aligned with the requirements of MoFPI and FSSAI.
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Ministry of Food Processing & Industries (India)
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About Ministry of Food Processing & Industries (India)
The Ministry of Food Processing Industries, set up in July 1988, is the main central agency of the Government responsible for developing a strong and vibrant food processing sector; with a view to create increased job opportunities in rural areas, enable the farmers to reap benefit from modern technology, create surplus for exports and stimulating demand for processed food.
The subjects looked after by the Ministry are : Fruits and vegetable processing industry Foodgrain milling industry Dairy products Processing of poultry and eggs, meat and meat products Fish processing Bread, oilseeds, meals (edible), breakfast foods, biscuits, confectionery(including cocoa processing and chocolate), malt extract, protein isolate,high protein food, weaning food and extrudeM/other ready to eat foodproducts Beer, including non-alcoholic beer Alcoholic drinks from non-molasses base Aerated waters / soft drinks and other processed foods Specialized packaging for food processing industries Technical assistance and advice to food processing industry