Food Safety and Drug Administration (FDA), Uttar Pradesh, National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) and Nestlé India expand Project ‘Serve Safe Food’ in the state
To train over 3,700 street food vendors to further elevate food hygiene and safety
Expanding the geographical footprints of Project ‘Serve Safe Food’ in Uttar Pradesh, Nestlé India has continued its collaboration with Food Safety and Drug Administration (FDA), Uttar Pradesh, and National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) to train over 3,700 street food vendors in Agra, Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Moradabad, Noida, and Varanasi, taking the total to over 12,700 street food vendors in the state.
Project ‘Serve Safe Food’ has already benefitted over 92,800 street food vendors across 26 states and 4 Union Territories by educating vendors on health, hygiene, safe food handling, waste disposal and entrepreneurship. The training programme equips vendors with the knowledge to improve their food handling practices.
Mr. Rajesh Kumar, IAS, Commissioner of Food Safety and Drug Administration, said, “Uttar Pradesh is the melting pot of Indian culture, and our street food is an integral part of it. We intend to further strengthen this culture and empower street food vendors in the state by upskilling them on food hygiene and safety. I am grateful for the collaboration between National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI), FDA and Nestlé India in Uttar Pradesh and helping us achieve the objective through the project ‘Serve Safe Food’.”
Dr. Taruna Saxena, Head, Sustainability and societal initiatives, Nestlé India said, “At Nestlé India, we are consistently trying to improve the food safety environment in India by going beyond the quality and safety of our own products. Project Serve Safe Food empowers street food vendors by upgrading their skills through relevant training on hygiene and food safety practices. This helps to improve their awareness on around food safety and hygiene. We have been scaling up the Project and are confident that it would bring about positive behavioral change over time and contribute to the overall growth and sustainability of their businesses.”
Nestlé India launched Project Serve Safe Food in 2016 and has trained street food vendors across states including Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
