Walk into eateries, rate their hygiene

MUMBAI: Foodies, you can now walk into the kitchen of your favourite restaurants in three major cities of Maharashtra and check out their hygiene standards.

Thirty restaurants from Nagpur, Pune and Mumbai will receive their certification under the star-based ‘hygiene rating’ system started by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) on Wednesday. Originally planned by the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the ‘score on door,’ project is a way to increase transparency between food industry and its customers. To earn the certificate, any restaurant from the three cities, can fill a form on the FDA website and open themselves to a detailed hygiene assessment. The audit report will be submitted to FSSAI, Delhi, to generate a score in terms of ’bad,’ ‘good,’ ‘very good,’ or ’excellent.’ The score will be displayed on the door of restaurants. Five restaurants from Nagpur, 10 from Pune and 15 from Mumbai have already earned the accreditation which will be awarded to them on World Food Safety Day on June 7.

“The restaurant’s kitchen and other areas should be open to customer audits with unrestricted access; its restrooms and wash basins should follow sanitisation standards and their food and water wastage should be minimal. The project will empower customers and the food industry,” said Pallavi Darade, commissioner, FDA.

Customers can themselves share their views directly with officials through the FDA website which is being developed as an interactive platform. Darade added that the FDA also plans to develop four street food hubs at Girgaum and Juhu Chowpatty in Mumbai, Sarasbaug in Pune and a place in Nagpur. The places will be certified as India’s first designated street food hubs.