Tihar Jail in Delhi certified for serving healthy meals

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New Delhi March 15

The Tihar Jail in the Capital has featured in the list of jails certified by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for serving healthy food in prisons.

Nearly 100 jails across the country have received certification as ‘Eat Right Campuses’ by the FSSAI. This initiative, part of the FSSAI’s Eat Right India movement, aims to promote safe, healthy and sustainable food in various workplaces and institutions, including prisons.

100 jails have received certification

• Nearly 100 jails across the country have received certification as ‘Eat Right Campuses’ by the FSSAI
• This initiative, part of the FSSAI’s Eat Right India movement, aims to promote safe, healthy and sustainable food in various workplaces and institutions, including prisons
• With over 2,900 workplaces across the country now recognised as Eat Right Campuses, this initiative is positively impacting the lives of individuals working in these environments

Several notable jails in India, such as the Central Jail Gaya (Bihar), Modern Central Jail (Punjab), Central Jail Rewa (Madhya Pradesh) and others, along with numerous district and Mandal jails, have also received certification. Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of certified jails, followed by Punjab, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

“The ‘Eat Right Campus’ certification process involves rigorous assessment and adherence to FSSAI’s prescribed evaluation criteria. By meeting these standards, the certified jails have demonstrated their commitment to promoting food safety and the wellbeing of inmates. This initiative plays a crucial role in fostering a sense of responsibility and accountability towards food safety and nutrition within the prison system,” stated the Health Ministry.

Participating jail campuses undergo comprehensive audits to ensure compliance with four key parameters — basic hygiene criteria, measures to ensure the provision of healthy food, efforts towards raising awareness about local and seasonal food. Once enrolled in this programme, a campus first undergoes a self-assessment or a third-party audit by an FSSAI-empanelled agency based on this checklist to identify gaps and areas of improvement.

“The campus administration takes steps to address these gaps, including training of food safety supervisors and food handlers through FSSAI’s Food Safety Training and Certification (FoSTaC) programme. FoSTaC is designed to impart training on good hygiene and manufacturing practices. Once these improvements are made, the campus undergoes a final audit by the same FSSAI-empaneled agency and receives certification as an Eat Right Campus,” added the ministry.

With over 2,900 workplaces across the country now recognised as Eat Right Campuses, this initiative is positively impacting the lives of individuals working in these environments.