Food Safety Day: How Akshaya Patra Ensures Safe, Nutritious Meals

 

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine by thy food,” said Hippocrates, the ancient Greek physician known as the father of Western medicine. However, the modern world continues to grapple with the growing challenge of unsafe food.

According to the World Health Organisation, each year worldwide, unsafe food causes 600 million cases of foodborne diseases and 4,20,000 preventable deaths, of which 30% of foodborne deaths occur among children under the age of five. [Source: https://www.who.int/activities/estimating-the-burden-of-foodborne-diseases?] This becomes a major challenge that impedes the socio-economic development of a country.

Safe food, always a priority

World Food Safety Day –  A Call for Safe Food for Safe Life

Understanding this, the United Nations General Assembly, jointly with the World Health organisation and Food and Agriculture Organisation, established June 7 as World Food Safety Day to raise awareness and prevent, detect and manage food-borne risks.

This year, the theme is ‘From Burden to Solutions - Safe food everywhere, emphasising on collective action and science-based solutions to prevent food-borne diseases.

How Akshaya Patra Ensures Food Safety?

The Akshaya PatraFoundation is a not-for-profit organisation that serves mid-day meals under The Government of India’s PM POSHAN (Mid-Day Meal Programme). Behind the trust that millions have placed on this organisation is the food safety standards they religiously follow, which are set by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

Their chain of centralised kitchens that spans across India is equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure facilities. A few of the safe food practices are below.

v  Quality check during procurement of raw materials

The organisation follows a Safety and Quality Management System that covers various processes like supplier selection, supplier qualification, supplier rating etc. This ensures that the purchases of raw materials have met all the requirements.

v  Hygienic storing and handling of raw materials

Food Corporation of India supplies the rice. They wash and machine-clean it before cooking. Fresh vegetables are procured daily and stored in the cold storage after thorough cleaning. They follow methods such as FIFO (First In First Out) and FEFO (First Expired, First Out), which enable them to identify, store and retrieve in the appropriate manner and thus ensure the freshness of the raw materials.

v  Safe meal preparation

All the kitchen equipment is sterilised using steam before cooking. The cauldrons and vessels used in kitchens are made of 304-grade stainless steel, which is best for safe cooking.

v  Packing and transportation

The cooked food is packed in steam-sterilised stainless steel vessels. Then, these are loaded to steam-sterilised vehicles, which are specially designed with a puffed body to minimise temperature loss and a honeycomb structure to hold the vessels upright, thus maintaining the freshness of the meals till they are served to children. They also adopt methods like GPRS and route optimisation to ensure the safety of vehicles and on-time delivery.

v  Post delivery process

Taking feedback from schools is important for the effective implementation of MDM and making improvements. Quality officers take action as per the feedback. The organisation also takes initiatives to educate children about hygiene practices and food safety, such as distributing Do’s and Don’ts pamphlets on schools.

By sticking to the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and implementing monthly audits and surprise audits, the organisation keeps a scrutinising eye on every stage of the process.

v  Continual Improvement Methods

Consistence and sustainability are important to improve the quality of mid-day meals and effective implementation of the Mid-Day Meal Programme (MDM). Under the ‘AkshayaPragathi,’programme, the organisation implements Kaizen, CI Projects and Six Sigma methodologies for innovation and improvements.

How Akshaya Patra Ensures Safe Food in their Decentralised Kitchen Models?

Akshaya Patra employs decentralised kitchen models in places that are difficult to reach due to challenging geographic terrain and improper road connectivity. Here, meals are prepared by women in Self Help Groups who are trained. They cook meals under the guidance and supervision of Akshaya Patra, ensuring safety and strengthening communities.

Commit to Safe Food, for us and for Everyone

 ‘Food safety is everyone’s business.’

This slogan of Food Safety Day highlights the importance of collective participation in ensuring safe food for everyone. In the current world, the public health burden strangles the world economy. From farm to table, there is a holistic network of production, supply chain and consumption that demands everyone’s involvement.

This World Food Safety Day, let us remember that safe food is not a privilege but a necessity. By supporting organisations like Akshaya Patra, you can nourish children and support their education. You can donate online and support their vision – No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger.