FSSAI marks successful completion of 105-day 'Swasth Bharat Yatra'

Food regulator FSSAI-led 'Swasth Bharat Yatra', a pan-India cyclothon to sensitise people about eating safe food and being healthy, concluded Tuesday at Connaught Place in the national capital. In this national campaign launched on October 16 last year, Tamil Nadu bagged the best state award for its active participation. Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey gave awards to winners.

Speaking on the sidelines of an event, the minister advised people to reduce the intake of sugar, salt and cooking oils in their diets. He complimented the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for organising this big campaign under the 'Eat Right India' movement. FSSAI's CEO Pawan Kumar Agarwal said the cyclothon is the first step in creating awareness about safe and nutritious food and the central regulator as well as state food enforcement agencies would sustain this movement.

"The campaign has re-energised the food safety departments at states level," he said adding that this movement would go a long way in meeting the objective of ensuring safe and nutritious food to every citizen. The 105-day long cyclothon began from six different locations - Leh, Panaji, Thiruvananthapuram, Puducherry, Kolkota and Agartala - on six different tracks in which more than 10,000 volunteer cyclists covered over 20,000 km across 36 States and UTs spreading the message of 'Eat Safe, Eat Healthy and Eat Fortified'.

"The goal of this campaign (cyclothon) was achieved through engagement activities and events in more than 2,100 locations along the Yatra and the creation of over 21,000 local, community 'Eat Right Champions' who would sustain this movement in the future," the regulator said in a statement.

(With inputs from agencies.)