Food Safety officials on Thursday conducted surprise checks at three centralised kitchens in north Chennai where breakfast was prepared and supplied to schools under the “Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme”.
The team, led by Commissioner of Food Safety R. Lalvena, inspected the cloud kitchens at Royapuram, Kodungaiyur and Washermenpet and as well as a few schools where the food was served to children. Each kitchen supplied food to seven or eight schools, according to officials.
“We have trained and certified the staff. We found that everything was good, including clean utensils being used for the children,” Mr. Lalvena said.
P. Satheesh Kumar, designated officer, Food Safety Department, Chennai, said they checked a number of parameters during the surprise inspection. “We checked the quality of food, if it was cooked and if it tasted well, the vegetables used in the sambar, whether they had stocked adequate dry groceries and if the timing was followed,” he said.
Trained staff
The staff maintained the standards. “They were already trained under the Food Safety Training and Certification programme, including in cooking, and we had checked their vaccination status. The kitchens were FSSAI certified and registered,” he said.
The team interacted with the students and checked if the food was adequately served. He said that till now, the department lifted three samples and found that it conformed to the standards.
Officials of the Greater Chennai Corporation were present.
