KMC plans 6-month hygiene workshop for food vendors

Kolkata: The Bharat Chamber of Commerce (BCC) will tie up with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation to train basic hygiene to the city's street food vendors. The workshop is likely to begin from Tiretti Market, famous for its Chinese delicacies, after the election results are out. The next destination will be Dacres Lane, followed by Dalhousie, Zakaria Street, College Street, Chowringhee, the Park Street-Camac Street belt, Rabindra Sadan and Sector V, among other areas. Owners of all street food stalls that are near hospitals, schools, colleges and offices will also be brought under the training programme in phases. The training will continue for six months, said Rudrani Mitra, an assistant secretary of BCC. A tableau was launched on Tuesday to spread awareness about the upcoming training programme.According to a KMC health department official, the training will be carefully crafted to suit the needs of food hawkers. "The quality of street food has been satisfactory. But the place in which food is being cooked and the manner in which they are delivered lack basic hygiene," said the KMC official. According to a citywide survey conducted by the AIIH & PH on the city's street food, the surveyors found Kolkata street food had nutritional value, but the food stalls lacked basic hygiene. According to Saktiman Ghosh, the secretary of Hawker Sangram Committee, a hawkers' organisation, training the food vendors is an exciting opportunity for the hawkers. "We have around 1.5 lakh food hawkers who need to get trained in delivering the best quality food to enhance the image of the city to foreign tourists. KMC may pick up the trained food hawkers to run some special food hubs," said Ghosh.According to Shiladitya Chowdhury, the owner of a chain of restaurants in Kolkata, apart from training the food vendors in basic hygiene, the focus will also be on selecting the right kinds of edible oil and spices that won't create health problems for consumers. "Kolkata street food has set a high standard for its quality, affordability and variety. Now the training will take it to a different height," said Chowdhury. Food historian Haripada Bhowmik felt training in food safety and hygiene for the street food vendors will go a long way and pave the way for attracting more food lovers to savour the taste of Kolkata street food, which has earned fame worldwide.