‘Eat Right Station’ Certification

Q. Why is this in News?

A. Recently, Bhopal Railway Station has been awarded a 4- star 'Eat Right Station' certification for providing high-quality, nutritious food to passengers.

• The 4-star rating indicates full compliance by the station to ensure safe and hygienic food is available to passengers.

Q. What is 'Eat Right Station' Certification?

A. 

• About:
  • The 'Eat Right Station' certification is awarded by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to railway stations that set benchmarks in providing safe and wholesome food to passengers.
  • The station is awarded a certificate upon a conclusion of an FSSAI-empanelled third-party audit agency with ratings from 1 to 5.
  • The certification is part of the 'Eat Right India' movement.
• Other Railway Stations with this Certification:
  • Anand Vihar Terminal Railway Station; (Delhi), Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus; (Mumbai), Mumbai Central Railway Station; (Mumbai), Vadodara Railway Station, Chandigarh Railway Station.

Q. What is the Eat Right Movement?

A. 

• It is an initiative of FSSAI to transform the country’s food system in order to ensure safe, healthy and sustainable food for all Indians. Its tagline is ‘Sahi Bhojan, Behtar Jeevan’.
• It is aligned to the National Health Policy 2017 with its focus on preventive and promotive healthcare and flagship programmes like Ayushman Bharat, POSHAN Abhiyaan, Anaemia Mukt Bharat and Swachh Bharat Mission.
• Eat Right India adopts a judicious mix of regulatory, capacity building, collaborative, and empowerment approaches to ensure that our food is suitable both for the people and the planet.

Q. What are the Related Initiatives?

A. 

• State Food Safety Index:
  • FSSAI has developed it to measure the performance of States on five parameters of food safety - Human Resources and Institutional Data, Compliance, Food Testing - Infrastructure and Surveillance, Training & Capacity Building and Consumer Empowerment.
• Eat Right Awards:
  • Instituted by FSSAI to recognize the contribution of food companies and individuals to empower citizens to choose safe and healthy food options.
• Eat Right Mela:
  • Organised by FSSAI, it is an outreach activity for citizens to nudge them towards eating right.

Q. What is the Importance of Food Safety?

A. 

• Access to sufficient amounts of safe food is key to sustaining life and promoting good health.
  • Foodborne illnesses are usually infectious or toxic in nature and often invisible to the plain eye, caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances entering the body through contaminated food or water.
  • An estimated 4,20,000 people around the world die every year after eating contaminated food and children under 5 years of age carry 40% of the foodborne disease burden, with 1,25, 000 deaths every year.
• Food safety has a critical role in assuring that food stays safe at every stage of the food chain - from production to harvest, processing, storage, distribution, all the way to preparation and consumption.
  • Food production is responsible for up to 30% of global greenhouse-gas emissions contributing to global warming.