FDA suspends licences of four Mumbai food businesses over poor hygiene in statewide drive

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has suspended the licences of four food establishments in Mumbai over unhygienic conditions. The action is part of a statewide drive announced by FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe. In the drive, foods suspected of containing added colour were seized in Kandivali, and banned pan masala was seized in Sakinaka.

The suspended licences include those of Nair on Fire, a cloud kitchen in Mahim, Arabian Shawarma Cafe and Fast Food in Borivali, and Nath Fast Food. Bikaner Sweets And Namkin has been served a notice to shut down its business.

During inspections, officials found kitchens and drains unclean. Racks and utensils were rusted, temperature records were incomplete and workers had no medical certificates. Returned pav was also found being mixed with fresh pav, and sweets were being made with colours that are not permitted.

On October 15, an FDA team seized wafers, garlic sev, peanut bhujia and Schezwan sticks worth Rs 22,045, suspected of containing colour, from Shree Sadguru Foods in Kandivali East. At Shree Ganesh Farsan And Sweet Mart in Kandivali West, colour was found in jalebi and Maharaja halwa worth Rs 3,150. It was seized on the spot and destroyed.

In Sakinaka, a stock of banned pan masala worth Rs 7.06 lakh was seized. A tempo worth Rs 3 lakh used to carry it was also taken into custody. A case has been registered at MIDC police station against Uday Sundar Yadav, a Sakinaka resident, under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Food Safety and Standards Act.

Citizens who wish to complain can call the toll-free number 1800222365 or use the web portal complaints.mahafda.in.

Goods worth about Rs 3.11 crore have been seized across the state, including 32,061 litres of edible oil and 37,128 kg of other food stock. In Parbhani (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar), 11,390 kg of food items and 22,550 kg of sev and farsan, together worth Rs 87.52 lakh, were seized. In Jalna, pan masala and scented tobacco were seized; together with the goods vehicle, they are worth Rs 83.35 lakh.

In Pune, 9,000 kg of paneer, 440 kg of khoya and 9,888 litres of edible oil were seized. Smaller stocks of oil, khoya and bhagar were also seized in Nagpur and Ahilyanagar. In Bhiwandi, 11,779 litres of edible oil and 2,850 kg of tea were seized at Viraj Enterprises. These are together worth Rs 1.27 crore.