Ensuring food safety and standards for street food vendors should be a key priority of the government policies as it is crucial for physical as well as mental health of people, President Pranab Mukherjee said.

Addressing a seminar on food safety issues, Mr. Mukherjee said that the new safety standards for street food were an important step towards ensuring safe and healthy food.

The President also said that small vendors should not take the new guidelines as "intimidating".

Speaking on the topic, he added, "It has important economic and nutritional implications for our urban populations as street foods are an accessible and affordable option for a sizable percentage of our working population."

Food & Consumer Affairs Minister KV Thomas released safety standards to make hygienic conditions for street food vendors certain. He presented the first copy of the safety standards to Mr. Mukherjee.

Mr. Thomas stressed that the government was very serious about making food safety certain, and also claimed that those standards would concentrate on providing minimal check points to ensure safety of street foods.

Mr. Mukherjee noted that globalisation of the world economy provided a big boost to the food trade, but added that it also created new challenges to food safety.