What the CMC’s guidelines mean for food delivery services

With the rise of food delivery services we now have the luxury of ordering food and having it delivered right to our doorstep. But, while the food arrives all neat and looks appetizing, do you really know in what state it was prepared?

Recently, the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) introduced a set of guidelines to be followed by all food delivery services. The guidelines were drafted by officials of the CMC’s Health Department in accordance with the Food Act. In addition, the guidelines were also issued under the direction and instructions of Mayor Rosy Senanayake and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ruwan Wijayamuni. The problems kick in with the increase in the number of food delivery partners. Each of these partners must adhere to the Food Safety Regulations when they are transporting food. Dr. Subash Mendis of the City Food Safety and Hygiene Promotion Unit shared with the media recently that food deliverers are tasked with maintaining hygiene according to a certain standard. As such, these guidelines were introduced.

Some of the problems that arose with food delivery partners was that boxes containing food were sometimes placed between the leg space on scooters. Partners sometimes stored personal items such as jackets inside the box containing food. Added to that, the box was not cleaned on a regular basis.

Another problem that was identified was the rise of homemade food being prepared for commercial purposes.

This has grown with the use of mobile apps for food delivery. According to the Food Act, there are categories under which eateries should be registered. Snack bars, eateries, and lunch packet producers are some of these categories.

However, those who prepare food at home and deliver them through mobile application based food delivery applications are not registered under any of these c h s d