Street Food Vending & COVID-Food Safety Supervisor

Food Safety Training and Certification (FOSTAC)
Ensuring food safety and hygiene
FSSAI has made training mandatory for all Central and State Licensed FBOs under FSS Act, October 06th 2017*. Each Food Business Operator, exceeding specified head count needs to have at least one trained & certified person in their business premises to ensure food safety. The FSSAI shall provide training programs in food safety and standards for people who are in the food businesses, whether as food business operators or employees or otherwise. DNV GL is authorized to provide training under this programme

Level 1 (Basic) Food Safety Supervisor – Street Food vending
4 hours/ Open to all. 1-2 Days
Permanent or temporary stall holders.
Examples: Street Food Vendors, tea stalls, petty retailers of snack/ tea at bus stand, railway platform.
Open to all

With variations within regions and cultures street food vending is found across the world. Sold by vendors and peddlers street food is the ready to eat food or drink sold on street and public spaces. Vendors usually use portable booth, food cart or truck to sale the food items.

Street food vendors to be trained in hygiene, social distancing
The training of street food vendors will be based on guidelines prepared by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for food businesses during the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.

Eating street food will not be the same when the lockdown is lifted. To prepare Delhi’s street food vendors for the new normal, the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) has decided to train them in the measures they need to take while selling food.
The training will focus on keeping a separate table next to the cart from where customers can collect food, keeping a water dispenser, wearing protective gear, using disinfectants to keep the cart clean, opting for online payment, home deliveries in nearby areas among other things.

The training will be based on guidelines prepared by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for food businesses during the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.

Sangeeta Singh, head of the street food programme at NASVI, said street vendors will have to get used to the “new normal to earn their livelihood”. While there were close to 1.45 lakh authorised street vendors as per government records based on surveys done in 2007 and 2011, their exact number now is not known as no survey has taken place in the recent past. According to NASVI, there are over three lakh vendors (approximately) in Delhi.

Food Safety Supervisor (FSS)

The training guidelines for vendors state that high-touch points (surfaces that are touched the most number of times) have to be cleaned twice daily using disinfectants such as sodium hypochlorite. “Vendors will now have to use these disinfectants to keep their carts clean. They will also have to wear proper protective gear, provide customers with water dispensers and make arrangement to regularly sanitise their hands. We will teach them about hand hygiene, social distancing, etc., which are essential today,” Singh said.

Shyam Sunder (65), a street food vendor at Harkesh Nagar in Okhla, is unsure whether he can immediately go back to selling fritters near the Metro station after May 17. “I will have to buy a lot of things, such as disinfectants, to keep the cart clean. But I don’t know if people would prefer to eat on the roadside. The government should help us restart our businesses,” Sunder said.

Arbind Singh, executive director of NASVI, said that the Delhi government and municipal agencies should now create dedicated vending zones as mandated in the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, and also prepare a plan for street vendors once the lockdown is lifted.

“The creation of dedicated vending zones will help ensure social distancing. We will request the government to prepare a plan for street vendors, including food vendors. As and when the lockdown is lifted, street vending will need the government’s support in reviving their businesses,” he said.

A senior Delhi government official looking after the issues of street vendors in the Capital said, “There can’t be a common rule for all the areas in Delhi now due to Covid-19. The plans will be area-specific. We will ask the district magistrates to ensure that social distancing is maintained whenever vendors are allowed to operate. We will prepare a detailed plan once we get some guidelines from the Centre in this regard.”

The vendors especially those selling street food, will be the worst affected, as people will be reluctant to eat on the road fearing Covid-19. “Earlier, we would try to teach them about the importance of hygiene while cooking. But now the vendors are eager to know what they can do to revive their business. They have suffered a lot in the last one-and-a-half months.

Is FoSTaC training mandatory?
FSSAI has made training mandatory for all Central and State Licensed FBOs under FSS Act, October 06th 2017*. Each Food Business Operator, exceeding specified head count needs to have at least one trained & certified person in their business premises to ensure food safety.

How do I become a food safety supervisor?
To be qualified as a Food Safety Supervisor in NSW, you will need to complete approved training in the relevant units of competency and hold a current NSW Food Authority Food Safety Supervisor Certificate.

Key Responsibilities of FSS are:

1. To carry out implementation of hygiene as per FSS Regulations in their respective food outlets.
2. To train the food handlers in their outlets about safe food handling practices.
3. To train street food vendors so that they are get awareness and they maintain cleanliness and provide hygienic
food.

Eligibility criteria for becoming Food Safety Supervisor

Any person who are in business or intend to become involved in food business, student or food professionals can be the certified Food Safety Supervisor.

Food Handler : Any person who are in business or intend to become involved in food business, whether as food business operators or employees or otherwise.
Student : Students who have completed/pursuing post-graduation in food science/nutrition/hospitality or other allied fields.

Criteria Basic Level Advance Level/Special Level
Food Handlers/Supervisors or other individuals employed in Food Business Matriculate with 6-month experience in relevant sector (as per course selected). Graduates in science with 1-year experience in a supervisory role in the relevant sector (as per the course selected)
Or
Graduates in non-science discipline with 2-years? experience in a supervisory role in the relevant sector (as per the course selected)
Students/Other individuals intending to enter the Food Business Completed/pursuing post-graduation in food science/nutrition/hospitality or other allied fields
Or
Completed/pursuing final year of under-graduation in food science/nutrition/hospitality or other allied fields. Completed/pursuing post-graduation in food science/nutrition/hospitality or other allied fields with an exposure to industrial training/experience of a minimum 6 weeks in the relevant sector (as per the course selected).
Or
Completed/pursuing final year of under-graduation in food science/nutrition/hospitality or other allied fields with an exposure to industrial training/experience of a minimum 6 weeks in the relevant sector (as per the course selected).