Juhu Chowpatty and Girgaum Chowpatty, the city's favourite hangouts, have been declared as Clean Street Food Hubs by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
These are Maharashtra’s first clean street food hubs, where vendors have been trained in terms of hygiene, cleanliness, and quality. The food hubs will be inaugurated on Tuesday by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and other government officials.
The ‘Clean Street Food Hub’ initiative was conceived by FSSAI to raise the quality of street food vending to the level of food courts and established hotels and restaurants. The task was assigned to the respective State Food and Drug Administrations (FDAs) to conduct training programmes and audits. In Maharashtra, Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur were selected for pilot projects. In Mumbai, Juhu beach and Girgaum beach were selected as both have many food stalls and get many visitors. While Juhu has 80 food stalls, Girgaum has 30, serving various dishes like pav bhaji, Chinese food, bhel puri, pani puri, ice-cream, popcorn, dosa and gola. “The vendors attended training sessions on hygiene and cleanliness. They were also trained in using an apron, head cap, gloves, towels and hand wash, and were informed about their importance to attract customers. They were also pushed to maintain personal hygiene,” said Shailesh Adhav, Joint Commissioner (Food), FDA, Maharashtra. To ensure that the vendors continue to follow the norms, the FDA will conduct audits every three months.
In September last year, the FSSAI declared Kankaria Lake in Ahmedabad as the first Clean Street Food Hub. The Maharashtra FDA is working with food vendors from Saras Baug in Pune and Futala Lake in Nagpur.
