Mumbai: The Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) on Saturday welcomed Food Safety and Standards Authority of India's (FSSAI) move of mandatory registration for home-cooked food sellers which will help reduce health risk of consumers. The apex hospitality association has stated that food operators, whether operating from home or from dark kitchens, should be regulated for cleanliness and hygiene, FHRAI said in a statement.
It also pointed out that unregistered, unregulated food business operators (FBOs) may not be maintaining hygiene standards, which is detrimental to the interest of consumers and poses health risks. "FSSAI has responded to our plea and is taking to task any such unregulated and illegal dark kitchens. Quite a few of these are actually funded and run by the Food Service Aggregators (FSAs) to escape responsibilities attached to operating restaurants legally and of course, also taxes.
"This causes a huge loss to the state and the exchequer. Not to mention the questionable hygiene standards, because there is no one to monitor and they are not registered under FSSAI, FHRAI vice president Gurbaxish Singh Kohli said. The FHRAI has also emphasized on the need for creating a level playing field for all players in the hospitality enterprise.
It has said that several dark kitchens are operating without any conformation to standard hospitality or kitchen hygiene practices. With no such regulations or checks, they may be putting the health and lives of consumers at risk.
"Restaurants and hotels are subjected to rigors of State and Central laws for operating food businesses, but these illegal dark kitchens operate without any license. They have no need or requirement for adhering to any norms especially, hygiene and cleanliness related which all registered restaurants and hotels follow. "This is unfair, unjust and most importantly it disadvantages ethical businesses despite doing the right thing, Hotel and Restaurant Association (Western India) (HRAWI) Vice President Pradeep Shetty added.
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