The Punjab government has decided to make it mandatory for all online aggregators to ensure that food supplied by them have hygiene rating as per the guidelines of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
Punjab Health Minister Brahm Mohindra has issued a direction in this regard, saying that all the online order and supply companies should display the hygiene rating of all the food business operators registered or affiliated with them.
Companies informed
Punjab's Commissioner for Food and Drug Administration, K.S. Pannu, said that three months time has been given to the companies and communication in this regard has been issued to them. “No online food order is to be delivered in the State without hygiene rating. Companies take online orders from the consumers of food and deliver the same after procuring it from the food business operators associated with them. The online order and delivery mechanism of food supply has created a physical disconnect between the consumer and the food maker. Hence, the onus of ensuring the quality of food and the hygienic condition under which food is prepared, has shifted to the intermediate food delivery mechanism,” said Mr. Pannu.
“Keeping this in mind It has been decided that all the online food order-delivery companies shall ensure that FBO’s registered or affiliated with them have their hygiene rating done from the FSSAI empanelled companies,” added Mr. Pannu.
Mr. Pannu said that a meeting had been organised with the representatives of key companies operational in Punjab, including Zomato, Swiggy, Uber Eats and Food Panda and they had been sensitized on the issue.
“We have issued a formal letter to them wherein they have been directed to get the hygiene rating done of all the FBO's registered with them and only those food business operators who are at higher level of hygiene rating (bearing 3 or more smilies), should be allowed to supply food under the online food orders-delivery mechanism,” he said.
