Dhaka, Dec 22 – Safe food can be ensured only when people can overcome greed and fulfil their duties of serving the people, Food Minister Shadhan Chandra Majumder said yesterday while inaugurating restaurant grading system at a hotel in the capital. Low quality and substandard foods are served at many restaurants and hotels in the capital as well as across the country causing many people to fall ill after taking these adulterated and substandard food items.
Against this backdrop, the government introduced a grading system for the city’s restaurants to ensure safe and quality food for consumers on Sunday.
“If we can fulfil our duty properly by overcoming greed, it would be possible to achieve our objective and ensure safe food for the people. The awareness of the people, as well as the greed of the businessmen, must be controlled to ensure safe food in the country,” Food Minister Shadhan Chandra Majumder said while inaugurating the grading system at a city hotel.
So far, a total of 29 restaurants have recently obtained ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ grade. Of them, 13 restaurants obtained ‘A’ (green), 9 ‘B’ (Yellow) and 7 ‘C’ (Orange) grade stickers. Food minister distributed the grading stickers among the restaurant owners.
Earlier on April 2, 2018, the government distributed grading stickers among 57 restaurants in the city’s Motijheel, Dilkusha, Paltan and secretariat areas under a pilot project.
“No one can be controlled by guarding if his conscience and mind do not let him guard it. Those who have received an ‘A’ grade, we hope to hold on to this government-issued recognition and get an ‘A+’ next year. Good quality of the restaurant must be maintained. If the traders can’t quit greed then it would be difficult to ensure safe food for the consumers,” Shadhan Chandra Majumder said.
He said it is not possible for the food ministry alone to ensure safe food and everyone has to come forward in this regard.
Raise awareness among all including traders, he said, adding that those who do business, for their own satisfaction, give safe food to the consumer.
The hotels and restaurants to receive Grade ‘C’ could be easily identified as unsafe for taking food, the food minister said.
As part of the system, coloured stickers—green, blue, yellow and orange— will be used to signify the grades of ‘A+’, ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ respectively awarded to the restaurants after scrutiny.
‘A+’ would mean excellent, ‘A’ (good), ‘B’ (average) and ‘C’ (grade pending). The grading system has been devised on the basis of the quality of food, waiters’ health, purity, cleanliness, decoration and kitchen condition.
“The quality of food, cleanliness and environment of the hotels and restaurants must be maintained. The owners must give up their greed of earning more profit by serving low-quality food,” said Shadhan Chandra Majumder.
“It is an international-standard grading system. The restaurants awarded with yellow stickers will get three months to upgrade their quality, while those given the orange sticker will get one month to do the same. If they fail to do so, their registrations will be scrapped,” said Bangladesh Safe Food Authority (BFSA) chairman Syeda Sarwar Jahan.
The BFSA has set a 53-point checklist of compliance standards under 10 heads that include necessary proof/certification documents, individual hygiene, approved source, relative contamination, cleanliness, processing procedures and temperature control, equipment/machinery, chemical substance, pests and insects control, drainage and pipe management.
Restaurants with a score of 90 and over will make ‘A+’ grade, 80 points and up will get Grade ‘A’, between 55 and 79 points will get Grade ‘B’ and between 45 and 54 points will get Grade ‘C’. – Staff Reporter
