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Arora of Arbro and Auriga hosts talk on food safety awareness in Delhi
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Tuesday, 20 June, 2017, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Our Bureau, New Delhi
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Saurabh Arora, head, testing laboratory and research business, Arbro and Auriga, hosted a discussion titled Talk on Food Safety Awareness at New Delhi’s Oxford Bookstore recently.
The panel comprised Pawan Vats, vice-president, Auriga Research; Nishant Choubey, corporate chef, The Roseate, New Delhi, and Amin Ali, special correspondent, Times of India.
The discussion provided a ground to view the whole gamut of food industry from a prism reflecting multiple facets, like medical and legal, and the position it holds in different professional domains, such as culinary and food journalism.
The session was conceptualised to discuss the diverse aspects of food safety and intended to provide solutions to various challenges that come with the subject matter.
Interactive in nature, it was of great interest to stakeholders in the food industry and detailed the fundamentals of the concerned domain, vital for stability in the hospitality sector, a rapidly-emerging market.
Arora spoke on emerging food trends, including food start-ups and online food retailing, and advised on the mechanics of tomorrow’s food business, knowledge which is crucial to all the industry stakeholders.
He also emphasised on how the kind of food people consume influences their health majorly and affects their lifestyles in the long run.
“There are certain safe steps in food handling, cooking and storage that are essential to prevent contamination and food-borne illnesses,” Arora said.
“Cleaning is obviously the basic. Besides, it is important that the raw foods must be separated from the rest to avoid spreading of germs,” he added.
“Food refrigeration also accounts for an imperative aspect for preservation. One must store the food at the right temperature,” stated Arora.
Apart from the aforementioned subject matter, the session also served a great opportunity for all the attendees to have an insight into the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s (FSSAI) manner of operation, as explained by Vats, and thus provided a platform for a healthy interaction.
The country’s apex food regulator plays an important role to formulate and control procedures. It implements and controls food quality processes so as to eliminate hazardous and toxic elements.
Food licensing, another important issue that involves the entire food industry, was also deliberated upon, as were the specifics of food safety challenges.
On the importance of licensing and registration in the food business, Vats said, “Starting or carrying on any food business sans a license is illegal, with the exception of small-scale food business operators (FBOs), who also need to register with the food authority.”
“This is important for the consumers, considering their confidence in the safety and quality of food, and will help to promote innovations in food products and get rid of multiple regulations,” he added.
Choubey also shared that for the people in culinary business, there were some crucial factors to be considered for survival in the industry.
“Food hygiene is very important in catering establishments. It is important that head chefs, catering managers and other personnel in key positions deliver essential standards in consumer food safety,” he added.
“This should be supported by additional training and routine inspection to ensure that appropriate knowledge is acquired and effectively applied,” Choubey said.
“In a profession that handles cooking, a culture of quality and cleanliness is very important. There are three factors to be considered - order, safety and health. Apart from being appetising, food must also be safe and hygienic. Personal hygiene forms another crucial aspect,” he added.
Ali mentioned that food journalism and the food industry go hand in hand. “The food industry is one of the biggest industries in India, ergo food journalism is a conspicuous branch of journalism,” he said.
“Food journalism is also a form of business. The kinds of reviews a restaurant or a person in culinary business receives have a huge impact on their business, which makes it important for a food journalist to abide by an ethical code of conduct, as the consumers rely on their reviews,” added Ali.
The session turned out to be fruitful for all the stakeholders from the food industry, be it food manufacturers and processors, hotel and restaurant owners, start-up operators, online food retailers or representatives of food laboratories.
They discussed several issues of importance at length on facts and directions of the 360-degree aspects of food safety, and had the opportunity to understand FSSAI in a more interactive way.
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