Meat traders, dhabas, hotels and restaurants in Uttarakhand will now have to specify if non-vegetarian items being sold were Halal or Jhatka.

Health certificates for workers will be mandatory and staff will have to wear face masks and photo identity cards while smoking, spitting and habits like scratching of nose or orher body parts at workplace will be banned and workers health certification will be mandatory.

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Following chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami’s repeated statements against food and tea vandors spitting on food items state health and food safety department has issued Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for all hotels, restaurants and roadside eateries in the state.

Hoteliers not towing down to the SOP will have to pay heavy penalty ranging from ₹25,000 to one ₹1 lakh.

According to the SOP restaurants, roadside vandors, meat sellers and other eating joint owners will have to display at their shops if the sold meat or chickens are Jhatka or Halal. Besides this kitchen and food serving staff will have to compulsorily wear face mask, hand gloves, head gears and photo identity cards.

Owners will also have to provide medical certificates of every worker in the restaurants and eating joints while action like scraching bodyparts by food making and serving staff during working hours will be prohibited. Apart from this CCTV cameras will also be installed in the kitchens that can be examined by the officials concerned anytime.

It’s significant that state police headquarters has already announced that Local Intelligence Unit (LIU) personnel will keep eye on the tea stalls, open eating joints, hotels and restaurants in the state.

SOP for hotels and restaurants resulted after health minister Dhan Singh Rawat a tough stand in support of chief minister on the incidents of spitting in the tea and adulteration of cooked food items in Uttarakhand.

Dhan Singh Rawat instructed the officials that safety and purity of the food must be top priority for everone in the state. He warned that intentional addition of impurity or spitting in the food will not be tolerated for this will be construed as anti-social activity.

Health secretary and food Commissioner Dr R Rajesh Kumar said “Complaints of adulteration of juices and other food items with human waste and other dirty things have come to light from different parts of the state violating the provisions of Food Safety and Standards Act 2006. It’s mandatory for food business owners to have license and abide by the law complying with the hygiene and cleanliness parameters.

Dr Kumar emphasised “Food preparation and serving staff must compulsorily use face masks, hand gloves and head gears. Smoking, spitting and hand habits like scratching of nose, running hands through hair or scratching any other body parts have to be controlled while cooking and handling dairy products.”

Kumar warned food businessmen from employing sick persons in their establishments and their medical certification will be mandatory. “Do not employ persons suffering from infectious diseases in the kitchens and food storage places. It will be mandatory for all food license holders to keep a list of their workers along with respective medical certificates at the workplaces in compliance with the norms.”

Dr Kumar added violation of the food safety provisions mentioned will be punishable with a fine ranging from ₹25,000 to ₹1,00,000 under the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006.