Dec 16, 2017

Inside a mega kitchen

At 55000 sq ft area, this could be the country’s largest commercial kitchen

From the look of it from outside, Voila F9 Gourmet on a two-acre plot in the Financial District of Hyderabad is a white structure with not too much height. Appears to be a well-maintained industrial shed that is probably used as a storehouse. However, step inside and this seemingly unimpressive structure turns out to be a jaw-dropping 55,000 sq ft commercial kitchen with world class facilities. It’s perhaps the largest commercial kitchen in the country.
As many as 50,000 meals can be cooked on a peak day at this facility. Apart from the number, it is the practises and processes involved here that will leave us wondering at the care and caution taken to prepare the food.
Arrival and treatment
Various raw ingredients like fruits, vegetables, pulses and meats are received at different gates throughout the day. “There are specialised zones for receiving, stores, sorting, pre-prep, hot kitchen, confectionery, butchery, quality control, dispatch, temperature controlled refrigeration and also RO and STP / ETP plants. Here most of the raw ingredients are sanitised and stored in temperature-controlled rooms to retain their freshness. Most of the peeling, chopping and grinding are done by machines under supervision. Charts and duty sheets alert the stores about dispatching required amounts of various ingredients for the day,” says Sannjay Bhatija, director, operations.
If the raw green ingredients are treated at the time of arrival the dry ingredients go through a cleaning and sorting process by hand and then passed through magnetic channels to extract any unwanted metallic content.
The powdered spices and flour are sieved and sorted in individual baskets. So in the dry section, the employees are all armed with masks, headnet and gloves.
Cooking for corporates
Home grown Voila with an employee strength of over 850, produces over 25,000 meals everyday for employees of corporate groups like Google, Facebook, Deloitte, Qualcomm, D E Shaw&Co., Arcesium, Uber, Indus School etc. These kitchen employees work in three shifts to cater to breakfast, lunch and dinner. All the meals produced at the central kitchen in Gachibowli are then transported through a fleet of trucks which are also equipped with temperature controlled facilities.
“The kitchen doesn’t only serve the corporates; large-scale events like Sensation, Sunburn also rely on us for their outdoor catering. We as a company follow internationally acclaimed food safety processes like HACCP and ISO 22000:2005 and also run an in-house Microbiology lab to test and monitor every food item that is prepared,” says Vijay Amritraj, CEO.
Inside the kitchen
Inside the hot kitchen, contrary to popular perceptions that a huge kitchen will feel like one big oven with more than 100 cooking stations all working at the same time, the temperature is normal. In one side of the kitchen close to 10 cauldrons are being prepared with marinated meat for a biryani dinner. Six sous chefs upturn and mix the meat with spices in turns as a huge vessels of close to 200 litre capacity of water simmer on the side with potli spices.
Water consumption and garbage
Bigger the facility, the larger the requirement. This facility makes use of close to 2 lakh litres of water, 700 kgs of regular table rice, 1500 kgs of water melon, 7000 eggs, 700 kg of chicken, 500 kg of mutton, 1200 kg of onions, 1100 kg of tomato. The fact that they use close to 200 kg of salt on a daily basis gives an idea of the amount of food that is cooked.
For proper garbage collection and disposal, the facility makes use of garbage collection facilities and some of the water used to clean and wash vegetables is recycled to water the plants and landscape all around. Some of the waste water is also used to clean the outdoor area.

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Will appoint food safety commissioner soon, Govt tells High Court



Authorities resorting to dilatory approach, says amicus-curiae
The government on Friday informed the High Court that the food safety commissioner would be appointed shortly after the cabinet clears his name, even as amicus-curiae Bashir Ahmad Bashir pressed for holding the chief secretary responsible for the “government’s failure to implement the court orders.” As soon as the suo-moto public interest litigation against food adulteration came up for hearing before a division bench of Justice Muhammad Yaqoob Mir and Justice Ali Muhammad Magrey, the additional advocate general Muhammad Iqbal Dar informed the bench that the next cabinet meeting scheduled shortly will clear the name of an officer as food safety commissioner. 
The amicus-curiae, however, told the court that the government is resorting to a dilatory approach with regard to court directions and the authorities should be held accountable for defying the court orders. 
“They (authorities) are resorting to a delaying tactic; otherwise it could not take so long to post an IAS officer as food commissioner. The post has already been created, still there is delay,” he said. 
He submitted that the court orders passed from time to time can be implemented only if the chief secretary is asked to give an undertaking that he would implement the orders in a time-bound manner, “failing which, the chief secretary should be made responsible for consequences.” 
Advocate Dar told the court that the health and medical education department had earlier submitted a proposal to the finance department—through the general administration department—for creation of posts of commissioner, food safety along with the supportive staff. 
“But the department has cleared the proposal only to the extent of creation of post of commissioner, food safety, about which the court was already informed,” he pleaded. 
The state counsel said that with regard to supportive staff , a proposal has been re-submitted to the finance department which has convened through a communication its agreement for creation of three posts for the office of commissioner—private secretary, junior assistant, and an orderly. 
The finance department, Dar said, has also agreed that other need-based staff shall be considered separately. For driver’s post, he submitted that the department has requisitioned it from State Motor Garages. 
“Once it is concluded that an office of independent food commissioner is established, it will pave way for the implementation of the food laws,” the court was told.
With regard to food testing laboratories, the court was informed that the erstwhile forensic laboratory is still operating from the same place despite several communications sent to the police in this regard.
“Once again, the director general, police has been requested but nothing concrete has been done on his part,” the court was told.
The court was informed that in Kashmir division, of 876 samples lifted, 682 have been tested so far and 98 were found in contravention with the provisions of food safety and standards (packaging and labeling) regulations, 2011.
For the staff of food safety appellate tribunals, the government informed the court that the posts are required to be filled up through a proper selection process which has been initiated by the services selection board.
After hearing the arguments, the court said that it will pass orders.

15K unlicensed eateries may have to shut

CHENNAI: Come January, owners of more than half of the city's 32,000 food establishments will be forced to pay a hefty fine or face imprisonment with the government set to penalise those who have failed to obtain licences.
Commissioner of food safety P Amudha has given the go-ahead to crack down on establishments who don't apply for licences on or before December 31.
In March, the food safety department undertook an enumeration and found a total of 32,002 food establishments in Chennai, including pushcart vendors, retailers, provisional stores, bakeries, hostels, restaurants, fruits and vegetable shops and units that engage in making sweets and savouries. Of these, only 14,462 have been certified by the department.
The Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Business) Regulations, 2011, mandates a licence for any food business with an annual turnover in excess of Rs 12 lakh. Those with a lower turnover must register with the state food safety department. After eight extensions, the last deadline set by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for getting licenses expired in August, 2016.
R Kathiravan, designated food safety officer, Chennai, said although the department has been sporadically inspecting illegal units based on complaints, licensing would bring all of them under its scanner. "Before we issue licenses or register them, a team inspects the facility and judges them on various parameters, including quality of the water and raw materials they use for cooking, the hygiene of workers, kitchen and storage places," he said.
A vendor who fails to register or procure a licence is liable to be forced to shut shop, pay fines ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 10 lakh or face imprisonment of up to six months.
Food safety officials said a majority of those who have not registered are retailers. "They comprise 25% of the food business in the city. Many are reluctant as they source provisions from unlicensed manufacturers. This is where the maximum adulteration happens," said an official.
In February, TOI had carried a story on how less than 50% of the total 3,254 government institutions, including fair price shops, TASMAC outlets, Amma canteens and anganwadis, were licensed. Kathiravan maintains that all of them are now certified, except the mid-day meal kitchens in schools.
In the meanwhile, members of trade unions feel several provisions in the Act are too stringent. A M Vikrama Raja, president of Tamil Nadu Federation of Traders' Association, said at least 30% of the norms laid out under the regulation fall under the responsibility of the government. "If the water provided by Metrowater isn't clean, how is it our fault? The same goes with garbage piled close to the units and stagnant sewage," he said, adding that some members also felt the penalties were too harsh
Consumer activists have welcomed the government cranking up the heat, but said awareness on licensing still remain low. "And officials should not limit inspections just to the time licences are issued or when the public raise complains. It should be done on a periodic basis," said consumer activist T Sadagopan.

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