Sri Lanka’s health authorities have taken steps to help improve dining experiences by introducing the new “Premises Registration Regulation” under the Food Act, with the purpose of standardising safety and quality processes across the food service industry. This new regulation, which will be implemented from 1 January 2020, requires all establishments involved in the manufacturing and processing of food or beverages to meet the new standards in order to register their Food and Beverage (F&B) business before June 2020. Any establishment that already holds international quality assurance certifications such as ISO standards is exempt from this regulation. For the benefit of the industry, Fonterra’s Anchor Food Professionals announced they have embarked on a series of advisory workshops titled “Food for Thought”, in collaboration with the Public Health Inspectors’ Union (PHIU), designed to lead the preparation and change process for 2020 for the Sri Lankan food service industry. Fonterra Brands Sri Lanka Associate Director for Food Service and Emerging Markets Kumar De Silva said: “We already work closely with our partners in the culinary industry to identify key challenges faced by their business and tackle them together. That is why we want to ensure that as one industry, our partners have the expertise at hand to prepare for 2020. From five-star hotels to small-time bakeries, our purpose is to stand with the industry in advising and supporting them through these changes so that by January, they will be ready to continue delighting Sri Lankans with healthy, delicious dining experiences.” The first of this series was recently conducted in Galle for over 40 owners and chefs of F&B establishments in the area, featuring a keynote address by the President of the Galle Public Health Inspectors’ Union on food safety and quality best practices. Commenting on the initiative, Galle PHIU President Pulina Ranasinghe said: “By introducing this regulation, chefs are empowered to produce food at high safety and quality standards, and most importantly, we’re helping people make informed choices in trusting the places where they eat. As PHIs, our focus is on developing the country’s food service industry, and we have seen that Fonterra is a company that shares this purpose with us.” As part of the workshop, Fonterra’s regulatory experts took the participants through an extensive induction into the upcoming Premises Registration Regulation. Chef Thillakaratne from the Ayurveda Lanka Hospitals Lotus Villa Hotel said: “I have over 33 years of experience in the industry and I work very closely with Anchor Food Professionals. I think today’s workshop was very successful, and I believe the information shared will be extremely valuable to young chefs who are just entering the industry.” Chef Mendis from Déco on 44 Hotel, Galle Fort said: “I have been in the industry for over 22 years, and I have worked with Anchor throughout this time. It was a really valuable workshop because it gave us knowledge we can use to conduct our own training for staff. This workshop was a great motivator for us and brought us up to date on the new regulations that will be introduced.”