The supreme food regulatory body, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), has appealed meat and sweet shops ‘all over India’ to run a food safety inspection by March 2020.
The last date for conducting audit of meat/sweet shops has been scheduled to March 31, 2021, by the FSSAI, which has published an order regarding this issue adding that after this date, no extension would be entertained.
As per the FSSAI, the inspection would be around sanitation and hygiene related aspects of the shops as well as of the space, storage and material used.
It is relevant to mention here that in early 2020, keeping in mind the outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus in China, which reportedly traced its origins to the local fish and animal market, FSSAI planned to do hygiene ratings of abattoirs in the nation in partnership with the state governments.
After this, the body thought of providing hygiene rating certification to private meat shops.
Earlier, FSSAI had driven a third-party inspection of the municipal abattoirs in the nation. Also, it had recognized meat and fish food as high-risk categories that need special and extra attention from the regulator as well as from food businesses.
The apex regulatory body had notified that the audit of the municipal abattoirs unveiled that they required further enhancement, and at the same time, private meat shops also needed hygiene upgradation.
In 2019, FSSAI had planned to carry a food safety inspection of 40 municipal abattoirs all over India under the “Clean and Safe Meat” campaign.