English
Panaji: Goa government has advised all the places of worship, which serve ‘prasad’, to obtain BHOG (Blissful Hygienic Offering to God) certification. The certification encourages places of worship such as temples to adopt and maintain food safety and hygiene. It provides training to cooks and servers in maintaining hygiene while preparing and serving “prasad”.
According to the Directorate of Food and Drugs Administration, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has launched the BHOG certification for places of worship to ensure that best quality food (Prasad) is offered.
The certification process involves carrying out audit of the places and recommending changes so that hygiene and food safety can be maintained. Based on the audit, a place is considered fit for certification. Multiple audits are conducted if the hygiene is deemed unsatisfactory. The certified places of worship also have to undergo repeated inspections to show that hygiene is maintained.
“It encourages places of worship to adopt and maintain food safety and hygiene in preparation and serving ‘prasad’ along with training of food handlers for basic food safety and hygiene,” the Directorate of Food and Drugs Administration said in a press statement.
“The certification also includes principles of ‘Eat Right Campaign’ which is based on two broad pillars namely ‘Eat Healthy’ and ‘Eat Right’. After successful audit of the place of worship it becomes recognised/ certified. The certification also brings prestige to both the place of worship, as well as the entire state for adopting a culture of safe food,” it further said.
“All the places of worship which serve ‘prasad’ are advised to obtain BHOG Certification. The first step towards this is obtaining an FSSAI Registration Certification which is a requirement, and hence, those interested are requested to comply with the same before July 30, 2022,” it said.
‘Ujjain Mahakal’ and ‘Khajrana’ temples in Madhya Pradesh have already been certified. BHOG Trainings have been successfully conducted in major places of worship located in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh. Sensitization workshops were also conducted in Delhi, Bengaluru, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Assam.
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