FSSAI Guidelines for Restaurants & Eateries

There are no such things as unsafe food or unhealthy food, but the preparation of food in an unhygienic manner can make the food unhealthy when it is consumed. Various diseases can infect a consumer who consumes unhealthy food. Very common infections are vomiting, headaches, dizziness, and shivering. All restaurants and eateries have to follow the following FSSAI guidelines to ensure the safety of its consumers in addition to obtaining FSSAI registration. This article discusses the hygiene of food, workers, workplace and the cleanliness and disposal of food.

Personal Hygiene of Employees

Before going to work, the worker should make sure that he brushes his teeth, takes a bath, trims his nails, hairs, and beard. The employer must ensure that the employee involved in the preparation of food is hygienic and see that he wears clean clothes. In case an employee is injured, it is mandatory for him to bandage all his wounds so that there are no germs that would spread from his wound.

Some of the don’t(s) that a worker should keep in mind are:

• Employee(s) should not handle food when he/she is ill.
• Employee(s)  should not scratch his skin or prick nose and pimples.
• Employee(s) should not have long nails, and no nail enamels applied to them.
• Employee(s) should not wear dirty clothes and should not wear accessories while handling food.

In addition to this, a worker before he enters into a kitchen should wear an apron, gloves and headcover. Finally, the worker should wash the hands before beginning to work and should wear clean and covered clothes.

Food Premises and Facilities

The walls and ceilings in the food preparation area should be clean, and the walls should be smooth, light-coloured, non-absorbent and should be easy to clean. The walls should be painted neatly and properly, and there should be no paints flaking from the walls. The windows in these rooms should be covered with wire mesh and shatterproof glasses. The doors should have tight air filters or air curtains so that dust particles do not enter the room. The ceiling should be kept clean with no wire or electrical fittings hanging from it. Proper handwashing areas should be provided along with covered garbage bins in the food preparation area so that the food does not get infected by the germs. Spraying of insecticides during food preparation should be strictly prohibited from these premises.

Handling of Food

The receiving area should be kept clean and sanitised. The food should be received in clean containers. There should be separate containers for vegetarian and non-vegetarian foods and also for cooked and uncooked foods. There are certain instructions that are to be followed in the food storage place so that the foods are handled with proper care. The place should be cleaned frequently, and it should be well-lit.

The products should be stored at temperatures depending on the products. The containers that are stored with food should be at least 15 cm from the ground.

Food Serving Area

Food should be served with the appropriate food equipment and touching food with bare hands should be avoided. If food is maintained at room temperature, it should be consumed within 4 hours. Hot food that is served should be stored above 60-degree Celsius, and cold food should be stored below 5 degree Celsius.

Steps and Facilities for Wash

The workers and consumers must keep their hands clean at all times. It is recommended to a person to wash his/her hands always after touching animals, blowing the nose or sneezing, touching a sick person, handling waste, using the bathroom and after exchanging money.

According to the setting, two arrangements can be made as part of the handwashing facilities. The two settings are the permanent setting and a temporary setting. In a permanent setting, there should be a washbasin, soap or a hand wash, towels or tissues and a waste paper basket. In the temporary setting, there should be a water container or a bucket with water, a discarding bucket, paper towels and soap.

Certain steps are to be followed to have a proper hand wash. This would ensure the safety of the consumer and also the worker when they come in contact with food. They are as follows.

• Make sure the hands are wet, and then soap has to be applied
• Palms should be rubbed together in such a way lather is formed
• Palms should be rubbed over the back of the hands and in between the fingers, thumbs and wrists and then fingertips to palms
• Finally, wash hands with clean water and dry them with clean towels.

Cleanliness and Sanitation

The kitchen floor should be smooth and cleaned every day so that it helps in avoiding contamination of food. The plates should be scraped and rinsed to remove loose food and detergent should be used to remove the stuck food. Proper drainage amenities would help in the prevention of contaminated water and steps should be taken to see that there are no drainage problems in and around the area. It is recommended to have separate dustbins for both food wastes and non-food wastes so that the food wastes can be sent for biodegrading and the non-food wastes can be sent for recycling. The dustbins should not be overfilled, and it should be cleaned and disposed of regularly.

Pest Control

Pest control should be done regularly, and if there are any pests in the area, immediate action should be taken to eradicate pests from the area, so that there is no harm in the food processor.