Anand Vihar Terminal Railway station, today, was declared as the 1st Eat Right Station over Northern region with an audit score of 92 percent, highest across Pan-India.
The Eat Right Certification (ERC) is an initiative of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) where detailed guidelines and norms have been established for certifying any station as an Eat Right Railway Station.
The certification process involves a series of activities including pre-audit checks, inspection, training and audit of the station complex as well as the units where the food is handled which include catering stalls, kiosks, Quick Food Joints, Food Plazas, etc.
The process starts with the registration of ‘intent for the station’ to achieve an ERC certification with FSSAI. It is followed by the collection of primary data followed by pre-audit checks. The vendors and the food handlers are given a basic level training on food safety, hygiene and sanitation practices under the Food Safety and Training Certification (FoSTaC) program.
For the station complex, the aspects related to infrastructure, quality of drinking water for passengers, facilities of public washrooms, cleanliness, etc. were covered.
For the Food Units, the parameters assessed, checked and audited were food safety and hygiene check. The aspects covering infrastructure include operations control, maintenance, and sanitation, personal hygiene and training, etc.
The detailed post-audit of Anand Vihar was undertaken by the 3rd party auditors on January 15 this year and Anand Vihar was rated in the “Exemplary” category with a score of 92.08 percent with a rating of 5.
Congratulating IRSDC, Chairperson FSSAI Rita Teaotia congratulated said, “While on one hand, FSSAI has been taking several measures towards effective implementation of various regulations, targeted enforcement and compliance efforts to ensure availability of safe food”.
Sanjeev Kumar Lohia, IRSDC Managing Director said “Eat Right Certification is a unique concept and a very good initiative by FSSAI. Anand Vihar is the third Eat Right Station after Mumbai Central and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Railway Station with the top-most ranking and we feel proud to achieve such a high score. We are glad to be associated with FSSAI and would continue to ensure that the food available across the outlets here will be prepared in the right hygiene and sanitary conditions, stored at the proper temperature and served safely.”
Anand Vihar Terminal Railway Station is emerging as a multi-modal hub with two Metro stations and ISBT in close vicinity. RRTS station on the Meerut route is likely to come up soon.