INDEXPO crowns 22 institutions for food safety, health and hygiene

By Harsha Udayakantha Peiris
with the initiative of the Senior Minister for Food Security P. Dayarathne, the third consecutive Crowns Awards Ceremony 2013 organised by Ind-Expo Certification Ltd. (INDEXPO) has announced 22 award winning hotels and institutions for maintaining food hygiene.

The 22 award winning hotels and institutions for the Crowns Awards Ceremony 2013  included, Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Cinnamon Lakeside, Malaysian Food Boutique, Jack Tree – Bollywood Leisure Ltd., Dine-More Restaurant Ltd., Hotel Janaki, Lanka Hospitals Corporation PLC, Nawaloka Hospitals PLC in Colombo, Coral sands Hotel in Hikkaduwa, Randholee Resort Ltd., Mahaweli Reach Hotel and Amaya Hills in Kandy, Hunas Falls in Elkaduwa, Golden Star Beach Hotel Ltd., and Goldi Sands Hotel Ltd. in Negombo,  Sen-Saal Bakers Ltd. in Rajagiriya, Club Hotel Dolphin in Waikkal, The Palms Beruwala, Siddhalepa Ayurveda Health Resort in Wadduwa, Bentota Beach Hotel, The Blue Water in Wadduwa and The Fortress Resort & Spa in Habaraduwa.
INDEXPO is a not-for-profit certification and training organisation, established by the Ceylon National Chamber of Industries (CNCI) and the National Chamber of Exporters of Sri Lanka (NCE). INDEXPO is supported and funded by the United Nations Industrial Development organisation (UNIDO) under the project, ‘Strengthening International Certification Capacity in Sri Lanka,’ within the Integrated Industrial Development Support Program Phase II of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
INDEXPO is accredited to award certificates for HACCP, ISO 22000 and ISO 9001 by the Sri Lanka Accreditation Board (SLAB) which will be to the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and is therefore, internationally recognised.
The ‘Crowns for Food Hygiene’ scheme was launched by INDEXPO as the implementer agency, to encourage the continuous improvement of food hygiene standards, in food handling establishments in Sri Lanka. The scheme was developed based on international best practices used in many countries including the UK.
Under this innovative programme, INDEXPO has joined hands with the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) via a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to deliver training for food safety, environment and occupational health and safety related management. Reaching beyond the demarcations, INDEXPO has also extended its training capacity to train staff of several industrial and service-oriented institutions. Additionally, INDEXPO has also entered into MOUs with the Kotte and Kaduwela Municipal Councils to promote good food hygiene practices among food handling establishments under the purview of the respective local authorities.
“As the trade of travel and tourism becomes prime and one of the major foreign exchange earners at present, INDEXPO has taken this fruitful measure to reach an MOU with the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) to promote food safety, environmental friendliness as well as occupational health and safety of hotels. In 2010 we took part in the Pro-Food Pro-Pack Food Exhibition held at the BMICH in Colombo at which our stall won the recognition of Minister of Economic Development Basil Rjapaksa, who initiated to link our institution with the SLTDA to promote food safety,” said INDEXPO Director Shantha Kuruppumullage who is also the Director General of Sri Lanka Institute of Textile and Apparel of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
Following the signing of the MOU with SLTDA, 20 hotels; five each from four outer destinations besides Colombo that includes Kandy, Galle, Kalutara and Negombo were selected by the INDEXPO as its pilot project.
“We offered training on food safety to selected employees from these hotels. The training was of highly vocational level that satisfied levels two and three of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health UK (CIEH). We are the only registered training facility for CIEH to deliver internationally recognised training programmes and award certificates in respect of the various levels of training in the fields of food safety, occupational health and safety as well as environmental management. INDEXPO also trained the SLTDA staff who were later taken in the assessment panel that assessed the hotels,” Kuruppumullage added.
The assessments for the awards were carried out in two stages that included a primary assessment namely, the walk through assessment followed by a final stage of assessment to grade the selected hotels for their best practices of the applications.
Parallel to criteria stipulated by Crowns for Food Safety, a certification committee comprised of members from the Ministry of Health, INDEXPO, SLTDA and an independent food specialist were appointed to review the assessment reports and finalise the grading. The certification steering committee comprised of an independent food safety expert, representative official from the Ministry of Health, representatives of SLTDA and two members from the Board of INDEXPO who have been appointed to take the decision on policy matters.
“Besides this specialised scheme, INDEXPO also has a certification division where we offer ISO certification for ISO 22000 Food Safety Management System, ISO 9001 Quality Management System, ISO 14001 Environmental Management System and OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System. In addition we also offer the GMP certification which is for Good Manufacturing Practices and HACCP certification for Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points.  By September this year, we hope to issue the ISO 50001 certification for Energy Management Systems.
“Currently, we have selected five companies under the pilot project for this new certification. Most importantly, for the certifications we have obtained accreditation from SLAB which has in turn reached a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) with the Pacific Accreditation Corporation (PAC). In addition, SLAB is to sign an MRA with the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), so that accreditation extended by SLAB to certification bodies would receive the international recognition, that would in turn make INDEXPO the most cost effective internationally recognised certification body in Sri Lanka in this sector and not only for the macro level businesses but equally for micro, small and medium scale entrepreneurs.
“Up to now, we have awarded 42 certificates to local as well as exporting companies and institutions that include both public and private sectors. We have also entered the educational sector by awarding certification to a leading hotel school for its best practices in the field. By various means and methodologies, for example, through seminars, workshops, advertisements in tourist magazines and web links even via the SLTDA, we have taken several measures to encourage and accurately address the industrialists of all scales and acknowledge the public and tourist to the country of the importance of adhering to the measures expressed and certified through certifications offered by INDEXPO,” Kuruppumullage said.