Onlykashmir.in News Desk
The Food & Drugs Administration, Jammu and Kashmir, has directed the School Education Department to strictly implement food safety regulations across all government and private schools, including a ban on the sale of junk food within school premises and within 50 metres of school gates.
In a communication to the Directors of School Education, the FDA said the Food Safety and Standards (Safe Food and Balanced Diets for Children in School) Regulations, 2020 must be effectively enforced to ensure safe, hygienic and nutritionally balanced food for schoolchildren. Under the regulations, schools must ensure food products high in saturated fat, trans-fat, added sugar or sodium are not sold or offered within school premises, with the restriction extending to a 50-metre radius around school gates, where the sale, marketing or advertising of such products to schoolchildren is prohibited.
The FDA has also directed that school authorities or food business operators running food services on campus must be registered or licensed under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and comply with prescribed sanitary and hygienic requirements, including displaying Food Safety Display Boards and appointing Food Safety Supervisors wherever applicable. The regulations further require schools to designate fixed meal times to encourage healthy eating habits and provide safe drinking water free of cost to all students.
School principals, headmasters and the bodies managing educational institutions have been tasked with conducting regular inspections of food premises and monitoring the quality, safety and hygiene of food served to students. The FDA has also suggested schools appoint a Health and Wellness Ambassador or constitute a Health and Wellness Team to serve as a nodal mechanism for monitoring the availability of safe and balanced food, calling on the School Education Department and school authorities to ensure strict compliance with the regulations across Jammu and Kashmir.
