Ind-Expo Certification (Pvt) Ltd, the registered centre of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health UK, has stepped in to ensure the strengthening of food safety measures in the city of Colombo.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed recently by the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) and the Ceylon National Chamber of Industries (CNCI) to implement a food safety training programme among CMC officials including Public Health Inspectors to carry out inspections on food safety in city hotels, restaurants, food outlets, and small hotels which sell food items. Under this project the new unit and the CMC will launch several initiatives including training of food handlers, continuous development of the CMC relevant staff, upgrading the CMC laboratories and also introducing a new star grading system based on Food Safety.
The project will be implemented through Ind- Expo Certification Pvt. Ltd, a joint venture between the CNCI and National Chamber of Exporters (NCE). The CMC will not renew the license of these food outlets if these food outlets fail to obtain a certification of food safety after the completion of the programme conducted by the Ind-Expo Certification (Pvt) Ltd, Chairman of the company, A. K. Ratnarajah told The Sunday Times FT. With consumers becoming increasingly concerned over the cleanliness of food, the need to improve food safety in Colombo City was identified as a must by the Chief Medical Officer of Health and a programme launched focusing on food inspection, food analysis, health education and law enforcement introduced and a certificate of commendation issued to many food outlets and restaurants, he said.
The programme of issuing this certificate will be streamlined under this initiative and it will be upgraded to Social Accountability Standard (SA8000) in the long term. The CMC with the assistance of Ind-Expo Certification (Pvt) Ltd will focus its attention on upgrading food safety standards of the catering services operating within the CMC limits. It includes upgrading the facilities, training on food hygiene, developing hygiene (GMP) and food safety (HACCP) systems and training of inspectors.
Meanwhile the Food Safety Standard HACCP/ISO22000 Certificate was presented by the new certification body to Ceylon Cold Stores Ltd, H.D. de Silva Company and Nikini Automation Company. These three companies have been selected from 22 companies.
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