A STUDY ON GOVERNMENT REGULATED FOOD SAFETY TRAINING & CERTIFICATION (FoSTaC) PROGRAM FOR FOOD HANDLERS IN INDIA USING A HYBRID METHOD RESEARCH

Government is responsible to frame food laws for the country based on the latestscientific findings for creating safe food environment for public. These food laws are provided asguidelines to keep the food safe in food industry. Food safety training is needed to facilitate theknowledge of food laws to food handlers. In India, this training in the organized format is provided byFood Safety Training and Certification (FoSTaC) department of Food Safety and Standards Authorityof India (FSSAI), Government of India. Successful participants get the certificate in their name fromthe department designating them as Food Safety Supervisor (FSS). This paper explores the impact ofFoSTaC training on food handlers working in catering sector of Indian food industry. Quantitative dataanalysis was done through hypotheses testing and qualitative through expert interviews & focus groupdiscussions. This study found significant gap in the food safety knowledge of food handlers before thetraining. We conclude that the gap is fulfilled through this training program which is positive &statistically significant. Refresher training is important and policy change of compulsion of training toeach Food Handler (FH) is urgent to enlarge the scope and impact of this training. More involvementof trainers and empanelled training partners are required for achieving the objectives of organizedtraining under food safety training and certification program.