FSSAI initiative ‘Safe and Nutritious Food at School’ is a nation-wide campaign to help school children inculcate the habit of eating safe and eating right. The ‘Yellow Book’ is the resource book for this campaign and it will help children learn about safe and wholesome food in a fun and interactive way, through curricular and extra-curricular activities.
The Yellow Book has two volumes, one for primary and the other for secondary school students respectively. An excellent Teacher Training Manual is also available. These books and more can be downloaded from FSSAI’s Citizen’s Portal. https://fssai.gov.in/eatrightschool/#
As the Apex food regulator, the FSSAI is concerned that students are most susceptible to food-borne diseases. There is also a lack of awareness among children and moreover, they are open to experimenting with food and diet while at school which renders them susceptible to foodborne illnesses. Therefore, the manual ‘Food Funda’s’ objective is to create continuous engagement with students, teachers and parents to make them aware about the importance of Safe and Nutritious Food.
The FSSAI’s Project SNF@SCHOOL is based on a three-pronged approach, at the school, state and national level. It will be carried out through curricular or co-curricular activities. At school level, the culture of food safety and nutrition will be promoted through Health and Wellness Coordinators and Health Teams. The FSSAI is in the process of developing an enabling legislative and regulatory framework so as to promulgate this message. The FSSAI states that the success of this project rides on every individual, as a stakeholder, because safe and nutritious food is not only a necessity, but a way of life and a shared responsibility.
The SNF@SCHOOL project has several aspects which are explained below.
Training and Awareness Creation
Training and awareness creation as well as disseminating the awareness material by way of activity kits, posters, banners and IEC material is an important part of this project. Providing training and creating awareness of food quality standards must be concurrent with the concept of nutrition with food safety. The school environment has the potential where healthy lifestyle habits can be inculcated among children. Awareness can be provided through Radio, TV and digital platform.
Mascot activation is also a part of the SNF@School program in which mascots, ‘Master Sehat’ and ‘Miss Sehat’, are the superheroes and the ‘health champs’ to carry the message of safe and nutritious food forward. They come with a ‘School Crew’, which are additional characters that provide an interactive means of bringing the central themes into focus.
The awareness will be carried out through activities or them- based age appropriate projects which will be realistic, flexible and as easy to implement as possible and will fit into the overall school development plans.
SNF@School – Adoption of Schools
A key step towards ensuring good health among school children is to ensure that children eat food that is safe, free from adulterants, clean and hygienic. Children must follow a healthy eating pattern by choosing nutritious food, eating a well-balanced diet, exercising daily and sleeping well. However, children have to be directed into the right path and the first step towards following these healthy practices is providing awareness about food safety and nutrition. In this regard, FSSAI has released “The Yellow Book”.
To spread the message of food safety and good nutrition, The FSSAI also requires leaders who can mobilize and engage people in such a way that they not only learn about good food safety and nutrition practices but also become agents of social and behavioural change. Teachers and students can take up this leadership role as Health and Wellness Coordinators.
FSSAI has created training modules to help these Health and Wellness leaders learn and understand how and what information should be provided in schools. They can educate, engage and motivate them to adopt good practices regarding food safety and nutrition. Effective monitoring is the key to success and progress can be evaluated in each school using the evaluation criteria as per FSSAI guidelines.
Citizen’s Role:
Citizens can support SNF@School project by printing The Yellow Books for Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3, as per FSSAI’s CSR guidelines. To download and print these books, please click here https://snfportal.in/snf/jsp/schoolresources.jsp You can then distribute it to various schools through your channels so that the printed copies can reach a large number of children.
You can also become an FSSAI training partner to train Health and Wellness Coordinators through your own channels. FSSAI training material for Health and Wellness Coordinators is available here. https://snfportal.in/snf/data/school/HWC%20Training%20Program%20-%2009.11.17%20(1).pdf‘
Master trainers are required to register at https://fostac.fssai.gov.in/fostac/index
Upon completion of the trainings, Master trainers, Health and Wellness Coordinators will be awarded an FSSAI certificate.
Source: FSSAI
himani dwivedi says
Universities should make it mandatory for canteens to test their food every month. Regular testing can detect issues like food poisoning or poor hygiene before students fall ill. While monthly testing might seem inconvenient, affordable testing services like those offered by Equinox Labs and other labs can prevent food adulteration and it will help students stomach problems, and help students stay healthy and focused on their studies.