Communiqué November 2009 | 1 - CII

quality“The Government of India had decided to celebrate 16October as Food Safety & Quality Day in India, declaredMr. K K. Rajeswara Rao, Joint Secretary, Union Ministryof Food Processing Industries. He said that maintainingfood quality and standards was a continuous activityaiming at educating the stakeholders about the safetyaspects associated with edible products. There was anurgent need to reach out to class II and III cities forobserving food standards. He added that his Ministryhad undertaken consultation with religious boardslike Vaishno Devi and Tirupati to spread the messageof food safety. He urged that issues relating to safe,hygienic and standard food should be carried forwardas a multi-stake holder’s campaign.Mr. Gaur said that FSSAI, in the backdrop of theupcoming Commonwealth Games, was working onguidelines for food safety, checklist for food establishmentoperators and the criteria for audit of eateries. Hepresented a perspective on the Food Safety andStandards regime, and flagged concerns such as theneed for consumer awareness, low priority given to foodstandards, and inadequate testing infrastructure amongother related issues.Ms Meena Kapoor, Assistant Representative(Administrative), Food and Agriculture Organization ofthe United Nations, encouraged the global increasein official development assistances to curtail the foodcrisis. She said that a series of fundamental problemsin governance and administration had to be resolved inensuring safe food for all. As the prices of staple fooditems had increased during the global financial crisis,she said that achieving food security in times of globalcrisis was indeed a global priority.Mr. K N Shenoy said that the CII Institute of Qualitywas committed to aspects of quality in India acrossindustry, services, manufacturing, healthcare, educationand governance. “Through this initiative we want toensure that people maintain quality and standards attheir respective environments and introduce innovativeways to ensure that food became a quality criterion forall” he added.Mr. Uttam Chatterjee, Chairman, CII Expert Group onFood Safety and Quality, outlined how 36 cities through44 programmes across the nation would celebrate theWorld Food Day in India, involving approximately 65,000people. The thrust of the programme was to campaignfor food that was free from any hazards; physical,chemical or microbiological.Pan India CelebrationsDelhi Walkathon flagged off by Ms Sheila Dikshit, ChiefMinister, Delhi the Chief Minister of Delhi, Industry leaders andcelebrities Food Safety and Quality OathOn this World Food Day, 16th October 2009,we solemnly promise thatwe shall all strive to position India as a Safe Food Destination,in our preparation for the Commonwealth Games 2010,by practicing Food Safety and Quality,in all Food Processing and Serving Establishments,in our Homes, Schools and Colleges and in all aspects of our Professional and Personal lives.Rakesh Tandon, Balvinder Singh Kalsi, K N Shenoy, Sheila Dikshit, Chandrajit Banerjee,B B Pattanaik, Dr Shikha Sharma and Rumjhum Chatterjee taking the Food Safety & Quality Oath on World Food Day42 | November 2009 Communiqué