Under the aegis of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’, Food and Drugs Administration Shopian in collaboration with Food Safety & Standards Authority of India today organised ‘Eat Right Mela’ at Sports Stadium Batpora, here.
DDC Members; ADDC, Manzoor Hussain; Deputy Commissioner Food Safety Kashmir, Shugufta Jalal; CEO, M Mushtaq; Asstt Commissioner, Food Safety Shopian G.Q.Azhar; DIO, Showkat Hussain Ganie; Food Analyst Kashmir, Umer Mufti; Asst. Commissioner, FS, Srinagar, Anantnag, Hq.,Hilal Ahmad Mir, Shiekh Zamir, Surenjit Singh respectively and inspectors, food analysts, students, FBOs, officials of Poshan Mission, Health and other departments were present on the occasion.
The Mela was chaired by DDC Chairperson, Bilqeesa Jan. In her address, DDC Chairperson highlighted the essence of holding such melas and said that Eat Right Mela is envisioned to inculcate good eating habits by way of awareness generation.
She complimented the efforts of the organizers and stressed the need for holding similar camps in near future.Food stalls of different departments like Agriculture, Horticulture, Poshan Abhiyaan and some of leading food manufacturers of Kashmir division were installed in the Mela to showcase local production and inculcate the habit of safe and healthy eating among consumers.
ADDC while speaking on the occasion enjoined upon the Food Business Operators especially the manufacturing, hoteliers and restaurant owners to adopt good manufacturing and hygienic practices and to undergo hygiene rating at an earliest.
Assistant Commissioner, Food Safety Shopian, spoke about the need of organizing the mela and also impressed upon adopting organic agricultural practices.
During the different sessions of the programme, which included speeches of specialists, skits, demonstrations, cultural items, walkathon, quiz, yoga asanas, pledge taking, the audience was made aware about the importance of following safe food practices.
During their address, speakers urged the participants to adopt healthy food habits especially taking less sugar, salt and oil to avoid consumption of junk foods. Speakers also highlighted the impact of adulterated and unhealthy food items on human health.
Food manufacturers were further stressed upon to undergo FOSTAC training so that neat and clean food is made available to consumers.Winners of different competitions were felicitated on the occasion.
Earlier, as part of the ‘Eat Right Mela’ a walkathon was held from Govt. Higher Secondary School to Sports Stadium Shopian which was flagged-off by ADDC, with participation of a large number of students and locals along with the officials from Food Safety.