Kozhikode: The citizens here will be able to taste clean street food soon with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) set to kickstart inspection drives at the street food centres. The officials will create awareness among the vendors to comply with FSSAI standards and ensure cleanliness andhygiene at the centres.
Many street food centres in the city are operating without the permission or a licence from the FSSAI department. The FSSAI will ensure that the eatables are safe and unadulterated, and hence the food vendors have to compulsorily obtain licences or registration to run the business. Though over 300 street food centres function in different parts of the city, only some 200 are registered.
FSSAI assistant commissioner Eliyamma said, "the vendors flourish due to the price hike in hotels, but the department does not have enough manpower to monitor them. We will soon launch a drive to check if they have proper licence," she said.
Food vendors should get the FSSAI registration to operate and must be aware of FSSAI/food licence display rules, she said. There are three categories of permits--basic registration, FSSAI state licence and FSSAI central
licence.A 14-digit number is issued by FSSAI and the user must display the information. Earlier, only the 14-digit number was required to bedisplayed. The FSSAI registration department has introduced Food Safety Display Boards (FSDBs) for display.
