For a food safety environment

In recent years, India has witnessed increasing commercialisation of agriculture and amalgamation of domestic markets into global food and agribusiness system. But then there have been raising concerns about food safety too. The country, as one of the world’s largest producers of food products, provides a huge market for the consumers of processed food products and contributes to the development of its economy, both at the national and global level. However, its capability to supply safe food to recuperate its growth in agriculture is an important issue that needs to be addressed. 

Until recently, the efficacy of food control system in the Indian market was found to be de-stabilised by the subsistence of numerous authorities and lack of monitoring and enforcement. The Indian food laws were enacted under different ministries with varied specifications. This bewildered environment was insufficient for the enforcement of laws and regulations in the food processing industry. That is why there was an inadequate food safety and quality system that was endangering consumers’ health in the country. 

In 2006, the Government of India enacted the Food Safety and Standards Act (2006) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare that integrated the existing food laws and introduced single statute under an apex regulatory authority known as Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). This initiative by the Government paved the way for an enhanced better food safety and quality control, based on the scientific standards. 

To create a food safety environment, especially for the vegetarian consumers of India and global markets by creating Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in all applicable areas potential of guaranteeing 100 per cent vegetarian environment, the Sattvik Council of India (SCI) was constituted in 2010. It is the world’s first vegetarian food safety and regulatory compliance for vegetarian and allied adherents and aims at further transforming sattvik certification into the education sector and training personnel to establish a robust food safety and quality system.  

“We are not into promoting vegetarianism. We are simply a standard provider, just like an ISO,” says SCI founder Abhishek Biswas. With presence in 170 countries, SCI stakeholders comprise IRCTC, Bureau Veritas as worldwide partners for audits, Bureau of Indian Standards, Shri Vishwakarma Skill University, Niti Aayog, National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology, National Restaurant Association of India and 10+ FSSAI-accredited food safety laboratories.

“Sattvik comes from the Sanskrit word sattva which means pure, clean and strong energy. According to Bhagavad Gita, the food that an individual eats directly influences their thoughts, character, mental well-being and health. Therefore, sattvik is just an umbrella term,” explains Biswas. 

A team including eminent researchers, academicians and social workers in conjunction with SCI stakeholders create the SOPs. “There is a select group of research and development team which finalise the standards. Once done, its copies are sent to different subject matter specialists for reviews and comments,” informs Biswas.

In purview of the FSA 2006, Sattvik Council of India aims at meeting the consumers’ expectations by providing ‘safe food supply’, capable to meet the basic quality and safety standards and requirements referring to food hygiene, labelling and certification, use of food additives and limits for pesticide residues. This can be accomplished by redefining the infrastructure, by taking inputs from all the stakeholders viz private-public-people partnership in order communicate awareness, sensitisation and capacity building, with special reference to potentially hazardous food items. “We not only target the food manufacturing and processing industries but also micro, medium and small scale industries which are facing innumerable challenges for their survival in the mainstream market. SCI aims at serving as an incubator for these industries,” says Biswas. The certification procedure by the Council aims to reinforce the consumers ‘ assurance and confidence in the food supply system by making a positive impact on the current food processing techniques.

STANDARD FOOD SAFETY PRACTICES FOR BUSINESSES

After Covid-19, there has been a huge shift and people are converting into vegan and choosing vegan lifestyle. “SCI vows for the development of vegetarian environment for the vegetarians of the world which the industries need to adapt, especially after the risk of zoonotic diseases,” puts in Biswas. 

FUTURE PLANS

SCI, he informs, has almost 40 codes for certification for food, hospitality, textiles, dairy and agriculture industries. Soon, 20 more codes will be added to the Sattvik Codex System (SCS). Vedic gunas, panch tatvas, Vaastu compliance, HACCP and system management are the principles taken into consideration while finalising any standards of certification.

Though SCI doesn’t run any programme(s) to educate businesses on safe and hygienic production of sattvik food, there are plans to convert certification into education. “We will soon be launching a six month certificate course in Sattvik Quality Management at Shri Vishwakarma Skill University. Talks are underway with Lovely Professional University too,” discloses the SCI Founder President. Not this alone, SCI also aims to create almost a lakh jobs by 2025, ones with which students will have a dispensable income. “The students can become food auditors by certifying themselves into Sattvik Quality Management Course which will generate employment for students. Soon, students can enroll themselves into courses which will be available at Shri Vishwakarma Skill University, Palwal,” shares Biswas.