Lucknow

The innumerable number of cauldrons and other utensils in the kitchen are sanitised by using chlorine water of 150 PPM to remove microbial agents and bacteria.       

The measures taken to maintain food quality are: 

• Training the kitchen employees on personal hygiene;
• Good GMP conditions;
• Procuring raw materials that adhere to Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI);
• Thorough washing and sanitation of equipment and utensils; 
• Good housekeeping practices;
• Pest control.

FSSAI norms are followed and the quality of food is tested at various levels.  Food samples are collected from various containers and tested half an hour before meals are served. If the quality of the food is not up to mark then that food is not served to children.    

As an enormous kitchen with a large number of kitchen staff, the safety management of the kitchen is clearly monitored. A fire evacuation plan has been displayed in the kitchen with written instructions of the steps and risk assessment have been done on identified areas and specific measures have been taken to mitigate occurrence of probable risks.

All staff members are provided with personal protective gears such as boots, face masks, hard hats, ear plugs, respirators, gloves, safety harnesses and the like as a precautions and food safety measures.

During pre-production, all the utensils are sterilised with hot water, chlorination of vegetables is done to remove microbes and germs, after which they are washed and cleaned. 

During production, cooking is done in steam-sterilised vessels and the cooking temperature is monitored at regular intervals. Cooking time, temperature monitoring, equipment’s sterilisation, batch identification is given due importance.

 After the cooking process, the cooked food is packed in stainless steel vessels and loaded into the steam sterilized delivery vans. The kitchen is then cleaned sparklingly well. 

First, vendor registration is done by taking required documents like FSSAI licence, AGMARK specifications, and history of the vendor.

The samples of raw materials is sent for lab test. If the vendor qualifies in the vendor audit only then he will be approved in the vendor list.

Supplier rating is done based on quality index, food safety index, and delivery index.

Quality inspection of raw materials is done as per FSSAI specification and AGMARK specification.

Akshaya Patra kitchens are always in the process of improvement. Kaizen initiatives are adopted for continuous improvement in the kitchen. Numerous initiatives are implemented in the kitchen such as:             

• Cooking rice with starch instead of draining it;                       
• Disposable caps replaced by reusable caps;
• Lid implementation for rice and sambar chutes;
• Slope table implemented for vessel washing;
• Elevation of hose pipe for vessel washing;
• Android application implemented for distribution;
• Taste and texture desk implemented;
• Improvisation in tomato cutting process;
• Route optimisation implemented;
• Waterproof LED's implemented;
• Standardisation in vehicle body building process.