In an effort to eliminate classroom hunger in India, the Akshaya Patra Foundation serves children safe, nutritious and hygienic food cooked in their world class kitchen. While they have always kept a strict check on their quality, a recent incident on April 19 marred the organisation's reputation. Reports of a rodent being found in the vegetable Pulav served to children at Jamala School in Kalol, Gandhinagar ran a knife through Akshaya Patra's long withstanding image.
While the organisation had no second thoughts about the efficacy of its operations, a detailed review of the kitchen plant was undertaken. “A team from the health department visited our centralised kitchen facility and found that the food safety systems of high standards are in place. Further, they were very much satisfied with the pest control measures implemented in our Gandhinagar centralised kitchen facility, which is fully compliant with the requirements of the Indian Pest Control Association (IPCA) guidelines,” the report read.
It added, “The cooking process was conducted in a hygienic centralised kitchen plant to provide food to beneficiaries in the schools. Standard Quality Assurance procedures followed on the day confirmed that all the processes were carried out as per requirements and there was no lapse in the food production and distribution. There is no possibility of such an incident to occur in the kitchen premises.”
“Akshaya Patra has also received feedback from the other school centres related to the same distribution route which clarify that no illness of any kind was encountered after consumption of the food supplied.”
A not-for-profit foundation headquartered in Bengaluru, Akshaya Patra has been working since 2000 towards reaching more children with wholesome food on every single school day. It works with the Government of India and other State Governments, serving 1,500 children across 5 schools in 2000 to over 1.6 million children in 13,577 schools across 11 states in India.
