FDA suspends licence of Vaijapur's Natural Dairy, destroys paneer and ghee worth Rs 42,880

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has acted against Natural Dairy, which makes milk products, in Vaijapur in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district. An inspection found food safety rules being flagrantly ignored at the dairy, and its food licence was suspended with immediate effect.

The dairy is located at Yashwant Colony, Ramgiri Nagar (Plot No. 1). A team led by Food Safety Officer Pragya Surse carried out a surprise raid on October 2. Given the filth in the plant and the violations of rules, the dairy scored only 15 out of 94 points on FSSAI standards.

During the inspection, the team found the plant's floor broken in several places. Doors were open and the windows had no insect-proof screens. There was no standard test report to show whether the water used in the plant was fit to drink. Raw milk arriving at the dairy was not given even a preliminary test. There was neither an arrangement to keep milk at 5 degrees Celsius or below nor any device to show the temperature.

No records of tests for milk adulteration were found. Milk should have been stored in stainless steel tanks, but plastic cans were in use. The effluent treatment plant was not working, there were no records of equipment cleaning, and pest control was not being done properly.

Staff handling milk had no aprons, gloves or head caps. Alongside this lack of personal hygiene, it emerged that workers had not been given the required food safety training.

In the action, 59 kg of paneer (Rs 18,880), 11 kg of cream (Rs 4,400) and 28 kg of ghee (Rs 19,600) were seized. In all, dairy products worth Rs 42,880 were seized and destroyed.

Shortcomings were found in many basic areas, including plant cleanliness, water quality, testing of raw milk, temperature control, records of adulteration tests, milk storage, the ETP, pest control and personal hygiene of staff. The dairy was therefore declared "non-compliant".

Joint Commissioner Shrikant Karkale said the administration would keep a close watch on milk traders who ignore food safety rules. He said strict action would be taken in matters concerning public health.