Maharashtra FDA suspends licences of 6 Mumbai food outlets over safety lapses

The action comes as part of the food safety regulator's efforts to ensure compliance with prescribed hygiene, storage and food-handling standards.

In Short

• Prince of Wales Restaurant showed gaps in storage, cleaning and pest control
• Café Sifarish lacked proper temperature systems and employee hygiene facilities
• Officials flagged cleanliness, storage problems at Chembur Zepto outlet

The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration has suspended the licences of six food establishments in Mumbai after inspections uncovered violations involving hygiene, storage, temperature control and maintenance.

The FDA also issued improvement notices to six establishments as part of its ongoing food safety drive. No licence was cancelled, according to an official release.

Among those facing action were Otters Club in Bandra, Daily Fresh Bakers in Dahisar, Prince of Wales Restaurant in Khar West, Cafe Sifarish in Andheri West and a Zepto outlet in Chembur.

At Otters Club, inspectors found improper food storage and maintenance-related deficiencies. They also found analogue paneer supplied by Punjab Sind Dairy being served as “regular paneer”.

At Prince of Wales Restaurant, officials flagged shortcomings in food temperature control, storage, equipment cleaning and pest-control measures.

Cafe Sifarish was found to have inadequate arrangements for food storage and temperature control, along with deficiencies in facilities for employees’ personal hygiene. Despite receiving an improvement notice, the cafe failed to submit a compliance report within the stipulated period.

Similar violations were detected at the Zepto outlet in Chembur. During the inspection, chilled non-vegetarian food was recorded at 9 degrees Celsius, while frozen food was stored at minus 11 degrees Celsius. The FDA said both were being stored above the prescribed temperatures.

The action is part of Maharashtra FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe’s “Safe Food, Safe Maharashtra” campaign, under which inspections have uncovered hygiene violations at restaurants and other food establishments across the state.

While the drive seeks to ensure compliance with prescribed hygiene, storage and food-handling standards, it has also faced criticism from some quarters over what they describe as a “shoot first, talk later” approach.

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