Marico Limited, one of India’s leading consumer companies, has been working with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and the Food and Drug Control Administration (FDCA) to further expand the Eat Right Programme in the state of Gujarat.
As part of the programme, the company has undertaken the initiative of Eat Right Campus in the Gandhinagar Vidhan Sabha and other food business operators promoting food safety. Given their consistent and effective execution even amidst the global pandemic, all the canteens on the Vidhan Sabha campus have been awarded five-star certification from FSSAI.
Encouraged by FSSAI, Marico took the Vidhan Sabha campus in Gandhinagar under its purview. The Vidhan Sabha campus has six canteens and each canteen is assigned its individual staff. All the canteens have been audited as a part of the program to understand the gaps followed by Food Safety Training and Certification (FOSTAC) of the canteen staff, and post rectification of the audit gaps a final audit was conducted and all the canteens successfully achieved the five-star certification.
Dr. H.G.Koshiya, Commissioner, FDCA, Gujarat said, “The Eat Right Initiative has been integral in spreading awareness regarding healthy and safe eating habits in the country. For last 14 years, our partnership with Marico on capacity development and food safety has been very fruitful. The certification of the Vidhan Sabha Campus in Gandhinagar is yet another outstanding example of the work being undertaken. I appreciate joint work done by my FDC Gujarat and Marico team members to achieve this milestone. I also want to thank auditing and training agencies and we look forward to many more successes in the future.”
Dr. Sudhakar Mhaskar, Chief Technology Officer, Research & Development, Marico said, “Marico has always been committed to making a difference in the community and partnering with FSSAI for the Eat Right programme was another step towards it. Since the inception of the programme, our aim has been to promote healthy, safe and hygienic food habits and so far, we have been able to cover 99 schools, 6 Eat Right Campuses and 8 Street Food Hubs reaching over 7,00,000 people across states.”
Under the Eat Right Campus program, in accordance with FSSAI’s mandate, Marico Limited has adopted the five star-rating mechanism, which has a set of well-defined benchmarks on food safety and hygiene, food waste management, healthy diets, promotion of local/seasonal food and awareness building on healthy eating across campuses such as IIM Ahmedabad and NIRMA University in Gujarat, among others.
It has also been promoting food safety and nutrition through Health & Wellness Coordinators and Health Teams on campuses. Additionally, Marico’s efforts have covered 5 major campuses and 30 Food Business Operators (FBOs) across the state.
Apart from the Eat Right Campus initiative, Marico has partnered with FSSAI for SNF at School programme to inculcate the habit of eating safe and eating right among school children and Clean Street Food initiative.
With the support of local FDA and FSSAI, Marico has worked with 99 schools, 6 Eat Right Campuses and 8 Street Food Hubs to reach over 7,00,000 people across Gujarat, Chandigarh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu in 2020.
