All places of worship in the State will have to ensure compliance with the food safety guidelines issued by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) soon.
State Food Safety Commissioner Ratan Khelkar told The Hindu that the FSSAI had initiated the Blissful Hygienic Offering to God (BHOG) project aimed at encouraging all places of worship to ensure safety and hygiene while preparing Prasadom for devotees.
The guidelines are applicable to free feeding of devotees, called Annadanam, Prasadom-oottu, and Nercha-vilambu at various places of worship. Prasadom vendors too will be brought under the ambit of the FSSAI-BHOG.
Authorities at various places of worship as well as the Prasadom vendors have to obtain the FSSAI licence for serving Prasadom, after completing the mandatory registration process.
Mr. Khelkar said the State Food Safety Authority had already interacted with the custodians of major places of worship in the State, seeking their cooperation in implementing the project. They would have to follow stringent quality control norms, while procuring raw materials for Prasadom preparation. Mr. Khelkar said the raw material for Prasadom would be standardised and tested for contamination.
He said the State Food Safety Authority had issued directions to all the District Collectors to implement the project by March 1.
Kollam leads the way
Mr. Khelkar said Kollam was perhaps the first district in the country where not less than 90% of the Food Business Organisations (FBO) had obtained licence from the Food Safety Authority.
Joint Commissioner of Food Safety K. Anilkumar said the successful implementation of food safety norms during the Attukal Pongala in Thiruvananthapuram was a major achievement in this regard.