The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) CEO, G Kamala Vardhana Rao, met with BMC Chief Bhushan Gagrani on Wednesday to discuss enhancing the safety and hygiene of Mumbai’s Street food. The meeting focused on expanding FSSAI’s training programs for food handlers and promoting on-the-spot rapid adulteration testing throughout the city.
Rao emphasised the cultural and economic significance of Mumbai’s street food, outlining FSSAI’s plan to increase the number of trained food handlers under its Food Safety Training and Certification (FoSTaC) programme. A key aspect of this initiative is training street food vendors to improve hygiene standards across the city’s food streets. Rao highlighted that over 800,000 street food vendors and food business operators (FBOs) have already received training in Mumbai.
In response to the critical need for rapid and accessible food safety testing in a city as populous as Mumbai, Rao announced plans to deploy additional mobile food testing vans, known as 'Food Safety on Wheels' (FSWs). These vans will boost the city's capacity for on-the-spot adulteration testing, ensuring timely and effective food safety checks. This initiative is part of FSSAI’s ongoing nationwide pre-festive surveillance drive, aimed at ensuring that the food consumed by citizens is safe and free from contaminants.
Furthermore, Rao and Gagrani discussed the potential development of healthy and hygienic food streets across Mumbai. This initiative aims to establish designated areas where street food vendors can operate under strict hygiene standards, providing safe and delicious food to both Mumbaikars and tourists.