Gujarat tops the list of food establishments that have been given the highest number of hygiene rating certificates in 2021-22, followed by Tamil Nadu, according to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
According to officials at FSSAI — a statutory body for laying down science-based standards for articles of food and regulating the manufacturing, processing, distribution, sale, and import — more and more food establishments, like restaurants, cafeterias, bakeries, sweet shops and meat retail shops in India are coming forward to get the ratings as it helps drawing customers to their joints.
Till March this year, 16,059 food establishments in the country got the coveted rating. In Gujarat, the figure stood at 4,340, followed by 2,532 such food joints in Tamil Nadu. Haryana stood third, with 2,210 establishments getting the rating.
In Karnataka, 973 such food establishments were part of the scheme. While in Kerala, 114 food joints got the certificates, in Telangana, only 47 food establishments went for the scheme.
“The number of such food establishments obtaining hygiene rating certification is increasing steadily. This gradual increase indicates increasing awareness of the scheme,” the official said.
Hygiene rating is a user-friendly, technology-driven scheme in which food service establishments are rated on their hygiene and food safety compliance with a score ranging from five to one.