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While the food being served at the Games Village kitchen may not seem delicious to Indian tastebuds,it ensures that the nutritional requirements of athletes are fulfilled. The food passes through three levels of auditing to make sure that it adheres to international standards.
The scope of auditing ranges from procurement of raw materials to food preparation and cleaning. While the first level of food safety auditing is done by the Australian catering firm Delaware North,the next one is taken up by the Organising Committee. A third-party independent audit is also conducted round the clock by TQS Global Manufacturing Systems.
Hot food is served here at 63 degrees Celsius. The health and hygiene department ensures that the temperature level is maintained at all times, said Bhaskar Jha,the project officer for catering at the Village.
According to sources,the DNC is so strict with maintaining temperature levels that some contractors hired by Taj SATS were sent packing for not being up to the mark. Yoghurt and spinach worth around Rs 6 lakh was also thrown away last week.
Apart from the 1,500 workers in the kitchen,a team of six persons check food safety and hygiene round the clock at the internal as well as external levels. Apart from food being served to the athletes at their respective Games venues,the Village kitchen also packs food boxes called athlete venue meals for those who are slated to be away for over four hours. However,it is a policy requirement that athletes order their packed meals,prepared by Ambassador Sky Chef,at least 24 hours in advance. While 200 meals were packed on Monday,the number touched 350 on Tuesday, an official said.
The packed meal consists of a substantial roll or sandwich,100 gm of fruit yoghurt,100 gm of salad and salad dressing,besides cutlery. All the items are packed in a box with a lot of dry ice. For sports events such as rugby,where athletes need to take hot food,meals are provided at the venue itself,the official said.
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