No need for food safety licence for midday meal in Kerala

The government has withdrawn the direction that made food safety registration mandatory for midday meal scheme at schools. This comes in the wake of its conclusion that the midday meal scheme was not akin to food business. A recent government order on the matter said the scheme was being implemented as a statutory and legal provision and hence the food safety licence as directed in the Food Safety and Standards (Safe Food and Healthy Diets for Schoolchildren) Regulation, 2021, was not necessary.