FSSAI develops kit to promote healthy food

NEW DELHI: Seeking to promote safe and healthy food, FSSAI has said it will provide a training tool kit to health workers at the proposed 1.5 lakh wellness centers under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme for raising public awareness on the issue at the grass root levels.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) will tomorrow launch a national campaign — The Eat Right Movement — with health and wellness centers to integrate its existing initiatives ‘Safe and Nutritious Food’ (SNF) at schools, home and workplace as well as food fortification, its CEO Pawan Kumar Agarwal said.

“Under this movement, we have developed a tool kit for health workers as well as citizens. This will be made available and integrated to 1.5 lakh health and wellness centers. We want to scale up our existing initiatives and reach out to masses,” he told.

The Eat Right tool kit would serve as a supplementary engagement resource to be mainstreamed in the national nutrition and public health programs, he said, adding that the focus is on preventive healthcare through social and behavioral change on eating safe and healthy food.

FSSAI’s Chief Management Service Officer Madhavi Das said the tool kit has clear and simple message on eating healthy food and avoiding food with high fat, sugar and salt. It also includes components on eating safe such as maintaining hygiene and sanitation and food adulteration. “We are also bringing out TV commercial as well as posters to spread awareness about eating safe and healthy food,” she said.

The tool kit is designed to provide food safety and nutrition messages for citizens in an interesting and engaging manner.  It aims to train frontline health workers, under the Ayushman Bharat, ASHA and Anganwadi schemes, to deliver these messages effectively to prevent non-communicable diseases like diabetes, obesity and heart ailments, and avoid food borne diseases.

“Healthy diet is one of the key responses to the rising incidence of non-communicable diseases,” Das said.  Under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme, the government aims to open 1.5 lakh health and wellness centre by 2022, which would be equipped to treat host of diseases, including blood pressure, diabetes, cancer and old-age illness. PTI