A total of 23 temples under the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department in the district has received the ‘BHOG’ certificate issued by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) under the Eat Right campaign.
The FSSAI has launched BHOG - Blissful Hygienic Offering to God - as part of Eat Right Initiative. It was launched to ensure that clean food and prasadam were being served to the public at places of worship and they were served in a hygienic manner, as per food safety guidelines.
According to the Food Safety Department officials here, 23 temples under the HR and CE Department in the district has received BHOG certificate till date and it is valid for a period of two years.
Arulmigu Kannanur Mariyamman temple, Arulmigu Kayanirmaleswarar temple, Kanjamalai temple, and Vadachennimalai Temple are some of recent places of worship to receive the certificate in the district.
Officials said that chefs at the temples providing annadhanam were given food safety training and also on other safe practices. Temple authorities were advised on hygienic measures for storing food items, shelf life of cooked food and other safe practices. The audits were conducted by a third-party agency and certification was issued after the temples fulfilled all the requisites, officials said.
