• Food Safety Department of State/UTs:  It has the most crucial role since it will act as a catalyst by pulling all stakeholders together. It would coordinate with local bodies, street food vendor association, audit and training partners etc. to get the certification done.
• Local self-government [Panchayat/Municipality/MC] – Since local bodies are directly regulating aspects such as cleaning of street food vending area, managing waste, providing potable water, drainage, maintaining infrastructure etc. they are indispensable to the whole process.
• Street Food Vendors Committee- Street food vendors located in particular area/lane are managed by some association or committee. Such bodies are the real stakeholders and are responsible for implementation and sustenance.
• Audit and Training Partners- FSSAI empanelled audit agency and training partner will play the role of mentor. While an auditor will identify the gaps, the trainer will handhold each one of them so that FBOs can mitigate those gaps
• Funding Partners- Entire certification process involves some cost which can be borne by  business houses out of their CSR funds, government bodies, local bodies or the street food Committee/Association themselves. The funding partner’s contribution could be acknowledged on the Plaque/website etc.

• Step 1: Cluster Identification

  The Food Safety Department of State/UTs in association with the local bodies (municipalities, municipal corporations etc.), will identify geographical areas with an aggregation/cluster of vendors and ensure they are licensed/registered as a first step.

  Step 2: Pre-Audit

  Benchmarks and checklists have been defined by FSSAI, covering parameters like location, facilities, personal hygiene etc., to be followed by the FBO, based on Schedule 4 requirements of the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006. The State Food Safety Department representatives from local bodies and an FSSAI-empanelled auditing agency will conduct a pre-audit to identify gaps against the benchmarks, through a physical visit to the cluster.

  Step 3: Training and Infrastructure Improvement

  After the pre-audit, training of Food Safety Supervisors will be conducted under the FoSTaC programme. The trainer will focus on the gaps identified during pre-audit. Further, for non-compliance due to infrastructural issues, the local Food Safety Department/municipalities/concerned state department/funding partner would help to plug the gaps; the trainer or training partner may guide the FBOs with suitable solutions. In certifying any given cluster, the audit agency and training partner will be two different entities to avoid conflict of interest.

  Step 4: Final Audit and Certification

  The final audit has to be conducted within six months of the pre-audit, by the same audit agency that did the pre-audit. The report will be submitted to the concerned State Food Safety Department and if the benchmarks, as prescribed, are met, FSSAI and the State Food Safety Department will jointly issue a certificate with a plaque to the cluster, which will be prominently displayed. The plaque will assure consumers that the cluster meets food safety and hygiene standards, thereby increasing business and enhancing livelihood of the vendors.

  Step 5: Sustenance and Renewal of Certificate

  The certificate will be valid for two years. In these two years, certified clusters will be routinely inspected and samples drawn and tested by the Food Safety Department of State/UTs in accordance with Schedule 4 of FSS Regulations, 2011. For renewal, an audit is to be conducted by an empanelled agency/State Food Safety Department one month prior to the expiry date of the certificate. On receiving approval from State Food Safety Department, the certificate will be renewed for the next 2 years.

• Compliance to suggestions given during initial inspection to be done within 30-60 days, which is to be confirmed by concerned the State Food Safety Department official. The cluster will be delisted from the potential hub list if final audit is not conducted within six months of pre-audit.
• FSSAI will certify the cluster as a “Clean Street Food Hub” and reward the hub with a plaque after the final audit if 80% compliance is achieved. If 80% compliance is achieved in the pre-audit, the cluster may be certified as “Clean Street Food Hub” after the pre-audit.

One of the first Clean Street Hubs to be certified was in Kankariya, Ahmedabad. Other iconic street food hubs which have been certified as Clean Street Food Hubs include Juhu Chowpatty and Girgaon Chowpatty (Mumbai), Chappan Dukaan (Indore), Urban Chowk (Ahmedabad), Sector 8 Market (Chandigarh) etc. These hubs took several measures to improve hygiene and food safety standards. Food handlers started wearing gloves, mask, caps etc. in the correct manner. They made a policy for procurement of raw and packed products from FSSAI-licensed/registered suppliers only. Products started being tested randomly at frequent intervals of time. They replaced non-food grade disposables with food-grade disposables for serving, which is healthy for consumers and the environment too. Cast iron and wood utensils have been replaced with stainless steel utensils. Now, proper arrangements for storage of raw food and semi-cooked food have been made. They have also started using potable water for washing of utensils and demarcated a common pot washing area. The Municipality is taking care of timely disposal of waste. Proper hand washing points/stations have been made available to consumers. License/Registration along with Food Safety Display Boards is prominently displayed in each vendor’s stall.

The project has seen great enthusiasm from several States, and so far, 20 have been certified covering Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh and Chhattisgarh; another 19 locations are in the pipeline. The CSFH have been inaugurated by CMs/other dignitaries in the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. CSR support has been extended by companies like HUL, Nestle, Jubilant Life Science, Zydus, Herbalife etc.

BHOG is an initiative to encourage places of worship to ensure the health and welfare of the pilgrims by educating food handlers in the premises and vendors in the surrounding areas about proper food safety and hygiene.

Under this initiative, places of worship where offerings are cooked/handled are identified, audits conducted and basic training imparted to food handlers. Display of food safety messages and Food Safety Display Boards (FSDB) at prominent locations in the place of worship to encourage adoption of safe and hygienic food habits by the devotees is an important element of this initiative. After successful completion of all the steps, the identified place of worship is recognized/certified.

• Food Safety Department of States/UTs:  It has the most crucial role since it will act as a catalyst by pulling all stakeholders together. It would coordinate with the local bodies, Temple Authorities/ Association, Audit and Training Partners to get the certification done.
• Local Self-Government [Panchayat/Municipality/MC] – Since local bodies are directly regulating places of worship falling under their jurisdiction along with the Local Municipality on aspects such as managing waste, providing potable water, drainage, etc., they are indispensable to the whole process.
• Temple Board/Trusts/Committee/Associations- Almost every place of worship is managed by a Temple Board/Trust/Committee/Association. Such bodies are the real stakeholders and are responsible for implementation and sustenance.
• Audit and Training Partner- The FSSAI-empanelled audit agency and training partner will play the role of mentor. While an auditor will identify the gaps, the trainer will handhold each FBO to help mitigate those gaps
• Funding Partner- The entire certification process involves some cost which can be borne by  business houses out of their CSR funds, government bodies, local bodies or Temple Board/Trust/Committee/Associations themselves. The funding partner’s contribution could be acknowledged on the Plaque/website etc.

• Step 1: Cluster Identification

  The Food Safety Department of State/UTs in association with the local bodies (municipalities, municipal corporations etc.), will identify geographical areas with an aggregation/cluster of vendors and ensure they are licensed/registered as a first step.

  Step 2: Pre-Audit

  Benchmarks and checklists have been defined by FSSAI, covering parameters like location, facilities, personal hygiene etc., to be followed by the FBO, based on Schedule 4 requirements of the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006. The State Food Safety Department representatives from local bodies and an FSSAI-empanelled auditing agency will conduct a pre-audit to identify gaps against the benchmarks, through a physical visit to the cluster.

  Step 3: Training and Infrastructure Improvement

  After the pre-audit, training of Food Safety Supervisors will be conducted under the FoSTaC programme. The trainer will focus on the gaps identified during pre-audit. Further, for non-compliance due to infrastructural issues, the local Food Safety Department/municipalities/concerned state department/funding partner would help to plug the gaps; the trainer or training partner may guide the FBOs with suitable solutions. In certifying any given cluster, the audit agency and training partner will be two different entities to avoid conflict of interest.

  Step 4: Final Audit and Certification

  The final audit has to be conducted within six months of the pre-audit, by the same audit agency that did the pre-audit. The report will be submitted to the concerned State Food Safety Department and if the benchmarks, as prescribed, are met, FSSAI and the State Food Safety Department will jointly issue a certificate with a plaque to the cluster, which will be prominently displayed. The plaque will assure consumers that the cluster meets food safety and hygiene standards, thereby increasing business and enhancing livelihood of the vendors.

  Step 5: Sustenance and Renewal of Certificate

  The certificate will be valid for two years. In these two years, certified clusters will be routinely inspected and samples drawn and tested by the Food Safety Department of State/UTs in accordance with Schedule 4 of FSS Regulations, 2011. For renewal, an audit is to be conducted by an empanelled agency/State Food Safety Department one month prior to the expiry date of the certificate. On receiving approval from State Food Safety Department, the certificate will be renewed for the next 2 years.

• The market will be delisted from the potential market list if the final audit is not conducted within six months of pre-audit.
• After proper examination post the final audit, FSSAI will certify the market as a “Clean and Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Market” and reward the market with a plaque.

Under BHOG, 30 places of worship are certified across the states of Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh. Another 100 places of worship are identified in Tamil Nadu for implementation.

Famous Temples like Shri Mahakal Mandir, Ujjain, M.P and Shri Ram Mandir, Raipur, Chhattisgarh have implemented BHOG and shown remarkable improvement. They made significant changes in infrastructure and lay-out, based on the gaps identified during the pre-audit to ensure unidirectional flow of food. They have started using food-grade lubricants and cleaning agents that come in contact with food items and utensils. Procurement managers are ensuring only food-grade material with the FSSAI logo. Other good practices initiated include temperature-monitoring devices like thermometer or digital display to make sure food is adequately cooked and safe for consumption, discontinuing the use of equipment and packing material made from non-food grade plastics, newspaper, thermocol etc. Testing of water and maintaining test reports and proper documentation on procurement, maintenance, personal hygiene, medical certificates, pest control, visitors and trainings.