Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare Dr. Harsh Vardhan, on December 27, 2019 inaugurated the second edition of the ‘Eat Right Mela’ at Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.
He stressed upon the importance of having a Jan Andolan, a peoples’ movement, encouraging people to have healthier diets which will help in reduction of the disease burden in the country.
About Eat Right India
- The ‘Eat Right India’ movement was started by FSSAI .
- Eat Right India’, built on two broad pillars of ‘Eat Healthy’ and ‘Eat Safe’, aims to engage, excite and enable citizens to improve their health and well being.
- Led by FSSAI, it is a collective effort to make both the demand and supply-side interventions through the engagement of key stakeholders.
The PURPLE Book
- The Union Minister launched ‘The PURPLE Book’ a handbook on diets for diseases.
- The book provides general guidelines for hospitals on suitable diets for common medical conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, cancer, gut disorders and so on in a simple format and has been developed and vetted by experts in the field of food and nutrition. This book is available for free download on www.fssai.gov.in.
NetSCoFAN
- At the event Dr Harsh Vardhan also launched NetSCoFAN (Network for Scientific Co-operation for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition), a network of research & academic institutions working in the area of food & nutrition along with the NetSCoFAN directory, covering detailed information of various heads/Directors and lead scientists of lead and associated partnering institutions.
- The NetSCoFAN would comprise of eight groups of institutions working in different areas viz. biological, chemical, nutrition & labelling, food of animal origin, food of plant origin, water & beverages, food testing, and safer & sustainable packaging.
- FSSAI has identified eight Nodal Institutions who would develop a ‘Ready Reckoner’ that will have inventory of all research work, experts and institutions and would carry out and facilitate research, survey and related activities. It would identify research gaps in respective areas and collect, collate and develop database on food safety issues for risk assessment activities.
Save Food Share Food
- Dr Harsh Vardhan emphasised the importance of ‘Save Food Share Food’. “Let’s develop the habit of not wasting food, and sharing food with those who are needy”, he said.
- At the event, Elan Professional Private Limited (ElanPro) through their CSR program declared to support Indian Food Sharing Alliance (IFSA) members to ensure the food collected is held at optimum temperature, which will help to reduce travel and distribution time under the ‘Save Food Share Food’ initiative of FSSAI. Presently, 84 food recovery agencies are associated with IFSA network under FSSAI.
