The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) will conduct audit of meat units and municipal slaughter houses in 40 cities in the next three months via third-party auditing agencies.
A mandatory food safety audit of the supply chain for e-commerce retail entities involved in retail of meat or meat products will also be conducted, it said.
The decisions were taken in a meeting with stakeholders that discussed all aspects that affect the quality and safety of meat and meat products either in direct or indirect way.
Food safety regulator FSSAI said in a statement that there is unprecedented increase in the demand for animal proteins, not only in India but globally as well.
FSSAI has planned “Clean and Safe Meat” initiative with the objective to develop an ecosystem that will enable the availability of clean and safe meat and meat products to consumers.
The meeting took up Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Good Hygienic practices (GHP) in slaughter and meat processing units, training of meat handlers and eligibility of food business operators handling meat and meat products for obtaining FSSAI licence.
It also looked at the role of animal feed in quality of meat and various existing and upcoming schemes for upgrading the meat industry, especially the unorganized sector.
It will explore the possibility of including the BIS certification of feed and formation of a steering group for “Clean & Safe Meat” that will have an overall responsibility for carrying out the activities in this campaign.
“This Campaign will be a part of Lauh Yatra movement, to clean the slaughter houses and meat markets. The stakeholders will be participating in Lauh Yatra covering 2,000 locations in 40 cities across the country,” according to the the statement.
The regulator also proposed that the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in collaboration with the feed manufacturing associations and other stakeholders will review and amend their feed standards for livestock and poultry, if required.