Kolkata: The raid on restaurants across Kolkata and beyond has led National Restaurants’ Association of India (NRAI) to announce a two-day “Food Safety Supervisor Training” for eatery employees. The sessions, to be held on Sept 18 and 21 at a restaurant in Rajarhat, have been fully booked and could be attended by representatives of more than 50 establishments in and around Kolkata. They are being conducted at the request of restaurant authorities ‘in view of the urgency of the current situation’, said NRAI.A notice issued by NRAI said: “The Sept 18 session is the primary session, and the Sept 21 session will only be conducted if the seats for the first one are fully booked. As seats are limited and the training is being organised based on the requests and urgency of the current situation, we request that you do not block a seat unless you are able to attend. If you have booked your seat, please make every effort to turn up for the session.”The session will help to keep restaurant employees abreast of food safety norms, said Pratap Daryanani, owner of Oasis on Park Street. The restaurant was inspected by a health department team on Friday, which gave it a clean chit. “We keep learning every time an inspection happens and follow the FSSAI guidelines. Labels are put on food as soon as it is purchased. Expiry dates are checked and we buy all vegetables, fish, chicken and mutton every day. Our costs are higher but we don’t need to stock a lot. This ensures that everything is in order,” said Daryanani.The sessions are routinely held every quarter, said NRAI co-chapter head Anirban Sengupta. “My employees have been attending it regularly and this has nothing to do with the ongoing inspections. But the sessions help,” said Sengupta, owner of WhatsApp Café in south Kolkata.
