Equinox Labs brought its best team together and conducted a Food Safety and Hygiene training programme (commonly known as FoSTaC), which was made mandatory by FSSAI, at the Khau Galli of Ghatkopar, Mumbai, recently.
It was the company’s contribution to the Eat Right India movement, launched by the country’s apex food regulator recently in order to spread awareness about eating right and safe food. FSSAI launched the initiative, which will address three aspects (namely, Eat Safe, Eat Healthy and Eat Fortified), in the wake of the outbreaks of several non-communicable diseases amongst the youth and the elderly.
The Khau Galli opens in the early evening hours (at about 4.30pm), is open till midnight, and serves different kinds of food. About 30-35 food vendors participated in the training. More such programmes are expected to be conducted in the coming months.
“Popular food sites like the Khau Galli of Ghatkopar are visited by hundreds of people every day. The number skyrockets to even thousands on a festive occasion. At such crucial sites, even with a minor contamination, the scope of food-borne disease is immense,” said Ashwin Bhadri, chief executive officer, Equinox Labs.
“Equinox Labs has started with Khau Galli to create awareness amongst food hawkers that provide Indian cuisines to a large population. This way, we are targeting a large crowd, ensuring their safety and hygiene with a small number of food hawkers. We are also planning to conduct more of such big and small training sessions in the coming time to create more such awareness,” he added.
Swasth Bharat Yatra is a FSSAI-led initiative and supported by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India. It is a pan-India cyclothon, which will cover all the major cities of India for over 100 days. It has been organised to create awareness on combating diseases like obesity, heart diseases and micronutrient deficiency. This campaign is assumed to influence the population and bring about changes in the lifestyles of people.
Equinox Labs participated in the three-day cyclothon in Mumbai, which also witnessed the participation of over 30 cyclists and other volunteers, who covered a distance of 23km, from Tip Top Plaza, Mulund to the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Matunga.