Safety With Divinity Program was conducted at Mukti Naga Temple by Food Safety Works on 20th of February at Sri Mukthi Naga Temple, Ramohalli. The program was inaugurated by, Dr. Shivaraj Hede- Deputy Commissioner Squad, FSSAI, Ms. Sarika Agrawal- Managing Director, Food Safety Works, and Dr. Sashikanth Kunigal- National Level Resource Person in the presence of Dr. Gowri Subrahmanya Shastry- Dharmadhikari, Shri Mukhti Naga Kshetra.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Shivaraj Hede explained in brief about FSS-2006 Act. He shed light on the food safety initiatives of FSSAI such as BHOG program, Eat Right Campus and Clean Street Food Hub which was started in the year 2018 in the month of January. He added that Safety with Divinity Program initiative is part of BHOG program which will help Places of Worship with implementation of Food Safety Management System.
Dr. Gowri thanked Food Safety Works team to sponsor this initiative at Shri Mukthi Naga Temple by training the food handlers and the community members in and around the temple. She emphasized that the devotees blindly consume prasadams served at the temple without thinking about the hygiene aspect of preparations and it becomes an added responsibility of the PoW to ensure its hygiene and safety. This was further elaborated by Dr. Shashikanth Kunigal who talked about the temple incidences where the devotees fell sick by consuming the prasadams.
Ms. Sarika in her thank you note explained the program initiative and how she wants to create awareness about food safety among the food handlers who prepare the prasadam at the premises. She also reiterated her commitment of doing at least one program every month with Food Safety Works bearing all the costs associated with the program. But her vision is to have the social and community organizations come forward to support this initiative so that many such programs may be organized.
As part of the program, 31 food handlers and community members were trained on food safety and each of received certificates from FSSAI for completion of the training. Hygiene kits, consisting apron, masks, cap and gloves were also handed over to the food handlers. The training was conducted in local language by Dr. Shashikanth Kunigal (a National Level Resource Person for FSSAI) who has conducted many training in catering and manufacturing for FSSAI. The program was a success and was appreciated for its uniqueness in itself by the community members present at the occasion.
We want to thank Vijaya Vani, our media partner for covering the event and helping us spread the word on Food Safety. For further details of the program or get details on supporting the initiative you may reach out to Smriti Soman, Program Manager, Safety with Divinity, by emailing her at divinity@foodsafetyworks.com
