Online food orders cannot be delivered in Punjab without hygiene rating: Minister

Online food ordering and delivery companies includingZomato and Swiggy will not be able to deliver eatables in Punjab without mandatory hygiene rating, a minister said Thursday.

Punjab Health Minister Brahm Mohindra directed online food ordering and delivery companies to display the hygiene rating of all Food Business Operators (FBO) registered/affiliated with them.

Giving three months time for complying with the order, he said that after 90 days of issuance of formal communique in this regard, "no online food order is to be delivered in the state without hygiene rating".

Punjab Food and Drug Administration Commissioner and Tandrust Punjab Mission Director K S Pannu said the online order and delivery mechanism of food supply has created a physical disconnect between consumers and food maker.

"The onus of ensuring the quality of food and the hygienic condition under which food is prepared has shifted to the intermediate food delivery mechanism", Pannu said.

All online food ordering and delivery companies shall ensure that FBOs registered/affiliated with them have their hygiene rating done from theFood Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)empanelled companies, he said.

Representatives of major online food ordering and delivery companies operational in Punjab, like Zomato, Swiggy, Uber Eats and Food Panda, have been sensitised on the issue, he said.