Now, rating must for food biz

Patiala, January 17

The state government has decided to prohibit online food supply aggregators (OFSA)—Uber Eats, Swiggy, Zomato, Food Panda etc.—to make purchases from food business operators (FBO) who don’t have the required hygiene ratings.

Before buying food items for consumers, the OFSAs will have to make sure that the respective FBOs have a minimum hygiene rating of three out of five.

KS Pannu, Commissioner, Food Safety, Punjab, said the step was necessitated as the distribution of food items by OFSAs had snapped the direct link of consumers with FBOs who could, no more, verify the hygiene at the counter. The aim behind the move was to ensure that the consumer got only good quality hygienic food items, Pannu said.

In May last year, the Commissionerate, Food and Drug Administration, Punjab, had advised all OFSAs to ensure that the FBOs from which they were sourcing food items for distribution to consumers should be asked by them to get hygiene ratings for their ventures.

A notice has been given to all stakeholders to submit objections, if any, in this regard by January 30. — TNS