A park for street foods? Odissa steals the show!

Whoever has thought of the latest "street food park" concept, being planned in Orissa deserves full marks for addressing an issue that poses multidimensional challenges to the civic authorities all across the country ever since India became an independent country. If reports are to be believed the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) in Orissa is "set" to launch such a park in the city within a month by providing some minimum infrastructure to enable street vendors to serve safe foods to the citizens there without affecting the pedestrian cross walks or the traffic nearby. CMC is also promising to provide necessary facilities like potable water supply, adequate cleaning water, lighting, toilet rooms and waste disposal system. It was not long ago that this Blogger suggested in one of the blogs about setting up a series of food plazas in almost all cities in the country away from busy thoroughfares within the city with suitable infrastructure so that city centers are not cluttered unnecessarily, adversely affecting smooth flow of both vehicular as well as the pedestrian traffic. Unfortunately such constructive suggestions never reach the ears of our politicians who have their own agenda and -priorities when it comes to spending public funds. There fore the developments in Cuttack should gladden the hearts of many progressive people in the country. Here is a take on this new development happening in one of the backward states of the country. . 

"The civic body has decided to set up the exclusive food park on Baliyatra ground, adjacent to the Mahanadi river bed, where food lovers can enjoy delicious and mouth-watering delicacies of the Millennium City such as dahibara, aludum and gupchup without being worried about falling ill.  The infrastructure of the street food park will be set up at a cost of Rs 10 lakh. Besides lighting arrangements, the CMC will ensure supply of safe drinking water to the park and some beautification work of the area. Toilet facilities and a garbage disposal system will also be put in place. The civic body officials said licences would be issued to the street food vendors to do business in the park and food inspectors will regularly monitor the quality of food. "We will start work on the street food park project within a month. The ground is used only during Baliyatra so we can easily accommodate the street food hawkers on it by creating the necessary infrastructure," said Gyana Ranjan Das, CMC commissioner.  Das said the food park would be made to look attractive to ensure footfall of food lovers and tourists. "Ensuring hygiene and cleanliness at the food park will be our priority," said a senior CMC officer". 

While appreciating such new initiatives especially in the government sector, one has to bear with some skepticism regarding the practicalities of such a revolutionary proposal. For example the place identified for setting up the Park is already being used by some sections of society for different activities and whether the new proposal will elicit protests from them remains to be seen. Similarly providing food inspection arrangement by frequent visits by the food vigilance officers is indeed a good thought, though how far in practice such inspections and action against defaulters will happen is uncertain. In stead it will be more effective if at least one dedicated food inspection officer is posted permanently to look after the quality and safety of products as well as the services offered by the participating vendors. Licensing must be hassle free and affordable to the micro entrepreneurs who come forward to invest in the Park. In stead of initiating legal proceedings against defaulters, it is worth trying for settling quality complaints within the park premises amicably through a committee system represented by the vendors and the CMC officers. Training program included in the plan is commendable as most violations take place out of ignorance and persuasive efforts can bring rich dividends.All said and done, here is a model being attempted in Cuttack and if successful deserves to be replicated throughout the country. .  

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

"ACHE DIN" promise for commuters of Indian Railways yet to take off-The branded food dilemma

Though we have been hearing about dramatic changes being brought about in the Railway Catering services by the new government in Delhi, nothing much seems to be happening to justify such a big hype. If this government monopolistic agency is to be believed introduction of branded packed foods to passengers in some luxury trains is imminent to avoid complaints about food quality which are overwhelming the Railways with respite. A layman still does not understand what is the problem for this premier transportation agency to change the mindset and attitudes of its employees to take the travelers for granted. First of all it is still not clear why Railways want to undertake catering responsibility, considering the past bitter experience of government undertakings in hotel industry which is no match to well run private hotel chains in the country. It should have best left the catering to private players with tight supervisory role for the Railways to get responsive service from them under a strict deterrent regime and protocols. It is sad to see that in spite of decades of promises of providing better catering services, Railways failed to deliver on them. Recent explanation from the "Babus" regarding the catering fiasco is reflected in the following media report. 

"Flooded with complaints about the quality of the food served on trains, Railways had decided to provide ready-to-eat food as an additional option for its passengers by October 30. Even as he admitted that determining the prices for the branded food items was a factor that has led to the delay in the launch of the new menu on mail and express trains, Railway Member (Traffic), D P Pande, said, "It is being resolved now." While Railways is averse to the high price demand of the food manufacturers, the latter maintain that the rate of pre- cooked food like pav bhaji, chicken biryani, rajma chawal served up in sealed packages will be a bit more than the prices of the standard meals available in pantry cars. "We have made them agree to our approved rate and now the policy is being finalised and expected to be rolled out in a month from now," Pande said. He, however, said that the option will be launched on a select few trains in the first phase and more trains will be covered later on. It would be made available on mail and express trains which have a pantry car. The service is likely to be initially launched on trains such as Karnataka Express, Frontier Mail, Paschim Express where the trial of these pre-cooked food items are already being carried out. A committee comprising health officials and senior rail officials has been formed to examine the quality, hygienic condition and protein value of the packaged food. Since these items are pre-cooked, the committee will have to certify about its bacteria-free shelf life, said a senior railway ministry official.  The branded food would be served to passengers as an 'add on' option along with the standard items as part of the catering service on trains. However, the national transporter insists that price of the pre-cooked food will be kept on a par with the standard meals currently available on trains. Given the high volume and branding opportunity, the companies are being told to charge reasonable rates, the rail official said. As to the trials, the official said that pre-cooked food by reputed brands like ITC, MTR, Kohinoor Foods, Quickmeal and Deleez were made available on a few trains and the response of passengers was encouraging. "Our aim is to ensure quality hygienic food for passengers. It must also be seen that the brands of meals or food items -- their quality, quantity, rate, hygiene -- are properly maintained," the official added."

This Blogger had suggested way beck in 2011 that the catering services can be best provided by established processed food manufacturers, many of them able to supply a variety of foods, centrally processed that can be just warmed before serving to the passengers. This can be done by providing a dedicated pantry car in each train to a selected player with responsibility to maintain the same with some rudimentary facilities to warm/heat pre-prepared packed foods. One gets nostalgic about old days when a passenger could walk through the vestibuled train to the pantry car, order for the foods he wants and eat the same in a relaxed manner. Such pantry cars should have a few tables and chairs and a menu that satisfies most of the customers. The success of any catering will depend on the ability of the caterer to provide what the customer wants at a time desired by him during the duration of the travel. For the sake of a few more seats in each train pantry car system was dismantled landing the organization in a mess vis-a-vis food service.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com                   

THE SABARIMALA PRASADAM-NEW FOCUS FOR ENSURING QUALITY AND SAFETY

The two worship places  in Southern India famed for their prasadam are Tirupati-Tirumala Balaji Temple in A.P and Sabarimala Ayyappan Temple in Kerala where millions of devotees visit on pilgrimage and crowd controlling is a logistical nightmare of gigantic dimension. Still during the last so many years no major mishaps have been reported jeopardizing the lives of the pilgrims. There may be issues concerning cleanliness, hygiene, filthiness  and sanitation which continue to persist in spite of frequent claims of satisfactory remedial measures. Even to day Sabarimala is a veritable dumping place for garbage, plastic pieces, human excreta, rotting food left overs that make the environment unbearable for most of the visitors though as devoted Hindus they suffer such discomforts in silence. As for prasadam, Tirupati laddu and Aravana Payasam and Neyyappam of Sabarimala are world famous with each devotee carrying them to share the blessings with relatives and friends back home. But the "11th hour firefighting syndrome" is characteristic of Sabarimala where food safety officials are seen active only during certain festival seasons. Though the prasadam is prepared near the vicinity of the Temple where modern gadgets are supposed to be deployed, the products suffer from severe scientific limitations including limited process standardization, vague quality specifications, ill trained working personnel, inadequate sanitation and hygiene and lack of accountability. Here is a report emanating from Kerala which says that the Food Commissionerate finds it difficult to manage the food quality and safety due to lack of personnel to carry out sampling and analysis keeping in pace with the production. 

"With the High Court mandating food safety certification for 'aravana' and 'prasadam' sold at Sabarimala,  the pilgrimage season will be a real test for the food safety commissionerate. According to authorities, the food safety officers from every district will be randomly appointed at Sabarimala to ensure round-the-clock services. Commissioner of Food Safety T.V. Anupama told DC that Pathanamthitta district would be given top priority during the pilgrimage season.  The commissionerate is planning to appoint special officers at Pampa, Sannidanam and Erumeli to ensure quality of food and 'prasadam' being served to the pilgrims. The department will recruit three analysts in the lab to check the quality of jaggery coming from Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. "Around 40 lakh tonnes of  jaggery is required every season and we have to be on our toes to check the samples from each truck arriving from other states. Either day or night we must scrutinise the loads to ensure that there is no adulteration. It's a tough  task," said a top official. Two of the total six analysts will be appointed in the lab at the shrine to check the quality of 'aravana' and four analysts will scrutinise the raw materials being transported to the shrine for 'prasadam' preparation. "Starting from November for a period of three months, the focus of the department will be on Pathanamthitta and Kottayam – where lakhs of Sabarimala pilgrims arrive," said the official. Sources say that the pilgrimage season will slow down the normal activities of the commissionerate as the full focus would be only on the two districts. "We are carrying out intensive drives every month throughout the state and the coming months we will not be able to carry out the drives. Staff crunch is a severe issue and around 80 posts are vacant," added the official."

It is most unfortunate that the responsible Food Commissioner is on record admitting that due to lack of personnel, the task is difficult though maximum efforts would be made to lessen the burden of unsafe and low quality foods on the pilgrims! What type of assurance is this from a senior representative of the mighty FSSAI in Delhi and how can the pilgrims place any confidence on them? It is the duty of FSSAI to ensure that adequate trained inspecting officials and analytical chemists are positioned on a priority basis in places like Sabarimala and Tirupati where lives of thousands of pilgrims are put in jeopardy every day. Even after three decades since the premier food institute in the country offered to undertake standardization and quality/safety related work, nothing much has been done and products like Aravana Payasam and Neyyappam remain almost inedible from the point of view of eating quality. Though there were some court strictures on this issue, the die-hard bureaucrats know well how to circumvent them with impunity! A time has come for the pilgrims to collectively put pressure on these politicians and bureaucrats to mend their ways and make the Shrine a lovable place to visit and enjoy the presence of the divine Ayyappa without any hassles and fears for their life..

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

ALL ABOUT TOILETS AND CLEANLINESS-THE NEW CAMPAIGN

During the last 2-3 days citizens in India are bombarded with the three words-"Swachh Bharath Abhiyan" by the voracious media, electronic as well as the news papers through saturated news coverage of the Gandhi jayanti celebrations. For an average citizen such high visible and high decibel coverage can only create skepticism whether any thing will happen to the cherished dream of Mahatma Gandhi to make India a clean country so that people can live without diseases and other adverse consequences of filthy environment. Whether it is Swachh Bharath or Nirmal Bharath, the name has very little relevance as long as there is tangible progress at the ground level. With a massive out go of more than Rs 2 lakh crore over a 5-year period, this particular program will definitely make some impact though no one can be sure regarding the potential, inherent in such a massive  government scheme for misappropriation of funds and mega financial scams. But the purpose behind the Abhiyan is noble and its successful implementation can change the face of this country. Here is one of the reports that highlight the details of this latest initiative from the new central government.        

The urban component of the Mission is proposed to be implemented over 5 years starting from October 2, 2014 in all 4,041 statutory towns. The total expected cost of the programme is Rs 62,009 crore, out of which the proposed central assistance will be of Rs 14,623 crore. The Cabinet had last month decided to merge the 'Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan', a campaign for rural sanitation with Swachh Bharat Mission. The Prime Minister countered Congress criticism that his government behaves as if everything happened only after he came to power. "I do not make any claim that the government, which has been elected to power just now, has done everything." Congress has been attacking Modi accusing him of taking credit of initiatives undertaken by the UPA regimes and trying to give an impression that every good work was done only by him. Recalling that he had congratulated all governments even from the ramparts of Red Fort, Modi said,"even today from this stage, I greet and salute all the governments--central, state and municipal, social organizations which have worked in this direction, whether they are leaders from Sarvodaya or workers of Seva Dal. I launch this programme with their blessings." Maintaining that everybody deserves kudos, the Prime Minister asked not to get into making political barbs on the issue. "Everybody before us has worked for it. Under Mahatma Gandhi's leadership, the Congress had led it...Who was successful, who was not. Let us not get into it who has done it, who has not. We should work responsibly," he said. While ruing that 60 percent of populace in rural areas still defecate in open, the Prime Minister said the stigma of women lacking toilet facilities has to be removed. Modi said that he has requested the corporates to evolve plans under corporate social responsibility to build clean toilets specially for girl students in schools. India, he said, should learn from foreign countries, where people are disciplined and do not litter in public places. He said though it is a difficult task, it can be achieved and for that people will have to change their habits. The Prime Minister said that a campaign has been unleashed on the social media as well where a separate website for the mission has been launched and he is tweeting about the drive on his Twitter handle. Expressing confidence that the nation can achieve the target of becoming one of cleanest in the world, the Prime Minister dwelt upon the low cost success of the Mars Orbiter Mission. "If people of India can reach Mars with minimal expenditure, why can they not keep their streets and colonies clean," he said asking people to take up the responsibility to make the mission a success. He also wondered whether the task can only be left only to the government to accomplish. "If we make it a public movement, we can make our country being counted as one among the cleanest nations," he said. The Prime Minister, who earlier in the day visited the 'samadhi' of Mahatma Gandhi and former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on their birth anniversary, said while the countrymen launched a movement and achieved freedom realizing one of the slogans of Father of the nation, there is now a need to fulfil his other vision of 'clean India'. He also chose the occassion to compliment two persons Anant from Maharashtra and Bhagyashree from Gujarat, who designed the logo of the campaign (Gandhi's spectacles) and the slogan "Ek Kadam Swachhata Ki Or" respectively. "I am seeing that Gandhi is looking through these specs that whether we have made India clean or not, what we have done and what we have done," he said. Quoting a WHO estimate, he said a person in India loses about Rs 6,500 per annum due to illness and poor health as he is unable to perform day-to-day duties.He said if the surroundings are kept clean, then people will remain healthy and such losses can be minimised."

According to the Prime Minister average spending by a typical citizen in this country on medical bills to fight diseases caused by filthy living environment works to about Rs 6500 per year and the financial out lay for the Abhiyan can be justified if the disease incidences are brought down by undertaking appropriate projects to clean up the rural and urban areas over the next 5 years. Government intent to transfer Rs 20 lakh each per year over the next 5 years to 2.47 lakh gram panchayats in the country for constructing covered toilets is very laudable provided there is strict monitoring of expenditure and financial accountability. The shame of this country that almost 49% of the population defecate in the open even after 67 years of Independence is a stigma on the politicians and administrators who governed this country during this period. Similarly spending Rs 62000 crore on 4401 urban entities to improve the environmental and living conditions of people can achieve a lot if it is spent responsibly. As the PM said rightly, no amount of financial out lay can achieve any thing lastingly unless people change their attitude towards hygiene and sanitation. It is here that the schools have to play a vital role by inculcating among kids about the significance of cleanliness in every aspect of life if they are to become a responsible citizen of tomorrow. The new government will do well by better focusing on this important area to reform the schools, the teaching community and the syllabus on a mission mode.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

THE DAY OF RECKONING FOR FOOD TRUCKS-SAFETY ASPECTS FOCUSED

The Food Truck phenomenon has spread far and wide in the United States and customers are increasingly patronizing these mobile eating joints almost bordering on frenzy! Sociologists, psychologists, economists and health experts are baffled by this trend while established restaurants are fretting and fuming because of its impact on their bottom line. After witnessing literally the explosive growth of Food Trucks during the last couple of years, regulatory authorities are lately waking up to the potential for food poisoning and food related afflictions due to this lightly regulated catering system. Many civic authorities are trying to tighten the monitoring regime for these trucks though in practice it poses enormous logistical problems. These are highlighted in a recent report emanating from the west coast of the US. 

"Food trucks have rapidly become a delicious mealtime staple around San Diego County, with new trucks and locations popping up on a daily basis. This semester, USD has even decided to jump on board the movement with the installment of Torero Tu Go, the West Coast's very first campus-run food truck. These gourmet meals on wheels range in specialties from prime grass-fed burgers, fresh pasta, modern Asian cuisine, seared ahi tuna, all the way to New England lobster rolls. Food lovers of all types can follow their favorite trucks on Facebook and Twitter to find their exact location each and every day. Currently there are nearly 1,100 food trucks and coffee carts roaming throughout the entire San Diego County, and the numbers continue to grow. Despite their hungry and grateful customers, food trucks have been subject to scrutiny and skepticism. The trucks are subjected to surprise health inspections on a yearly basis where the overall quality of both the food and truck itself are examined. In addition to the upkeep of the truck, inspectors also consider the temperature of the food storage, whether there is a proper hand washing area and whether or not all surfaces are sufficiently cleaned."

With established chefs and food connoisseurs getting into Food Truck business, there seems to be a perception among eating out diners that the foods served here are much better in terms of quality while very little concern is evident about the safety aspects. Probably a fool proof system of safety monitoring will have to be evolved in the coming days to pre-empt any unwanted health fiasco due to deficiencies in hygiene and sanitation. Since the United States has more than 50 states with different local laws a national consensus will have to emerge regarding regulating this nascent industry.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com