On International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, the Delhi government organised a workshop to connect food business operators (FBO) such as restaurants and hotels with NGOs distributing food to the needy.
The government is also helping NGOs to get registered with it to carry out food donation and ensure quality food is distributed to the needy, said government authorities. “Most NGOs, which have been distributing food, are not registered with the FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India). Even for commercial activities related to food, entities have to register with the FSSAI,” an official said.
Simple process
“The registration is very simple and the process is online. Today [Wednesday] we registered six NGOs,” an official said. The FBOs are already registered with the government.
The aim is to ensure that the food donated to the needy is fresh and both the NGOs and the FBOs stick to protocol prepared by the government.
“Both FBOs and NGOs must maintain the protocol related to collection, storage, transport, and distribution of the surplus food such as shelf life, storage temperature, reheating etc. and we explained these procedures to them,” the official said.
One-time registration
“The Central government will launch an online portal and both FBOs and NGOs will have to do a one-time registration. Later on, if a restaurant wants to donate food, they can call a toll-free number. Through the portal, a message will be sent to an NGO that is available, which will contact the restaurant,” the official added.
Quality control
The Department of Food Safety will do random sampling of donated food to ensure quality. The department is also planning to involve individuals who want to donate food. Those interested can contact the department.
