FDA issues stop work notice to Bademiya

Mumbai's Bademiya restaurant, known for its kebabs, has been issued a stop work notice by the Food and Drugs Administration for operating without a food licence. This is the third restaurant to be issued a notice in the last month. The FDA has been carrying out inspections on eateries following the closure of Papa Pancho da Dhaba restaurant last month after a customer found a rat in their dish.

Mumbai South Mumbai’s iconic Bademiya restaurant was issued a stop work notice by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) on Wednesday after it was found to be operating without a food licence. Apart from its most popular outlet in Colaba, the notices were also issued to its two other outlets – in Horniman Circle and Bandra, according to FDA officials.

Bademiya is the third restaurant that FDA has issued stop work notice to in the last one month for non-compliance of FDA regulations. In the last week of August, FDA issued stop work notice to Mahim restaurant Mumbai Darbar and Hyprkytchen Foodtech Pvt Ltd, a cloud kitchen in Govandi. (Bhushan Koyande/ HT Photo)

Set up in 1946, the Colaba outlet of Bademiya is known for its kebabs and Mughlai food, which is served well into the night. Shailesh Adhao, FDA Joint Commissioner (Food), said, “Our team visited their Colaba outlet and found that they did not have a food license. So we have issued stop work notice. We also found other non-compliances.”

Restaurant owner, Iftikhar Shaikh, however, denied flouting any norms and said they have all the licenses and compliance report in place, which they have submitted to the FDA. Post the FDA’s inspection on Wednesday, the restaurant continued with its service.

Bademiya is the third restaurant that FDA has issued stop work notice to in the last one month for non-compliance of FDA regulations. In the last week of August, FDA issued stop work notice to Mahim restaurant Mumbai Darbar and Hyprkytchen Foodtech Pvt Ltd, a cloud kitchen in Govandi.

On Tuesday night, FDA filed an FIR against Mahim restaurant Mumbai Darbar for continuing to function even after it was issued a stop work notice. According to an FDA official, the Mahim restaurant did not have a food license to operate. On Tuesday evening, when HT went to the restaurant, it was found to be fully functional. Later that evening, FDA officials visited the restaurant and filed the FIR.

“We had issued the stop work notice as they did not have a food license to operate. They had applied for the same but we rejected it as certain crucial documents like leave and license documents, a form with owners’ address and numbers etc were missing,” said a senior FDA official.

Following the inspection by the FDA officials at Mumbai Darbar, an FIR was lodged against the owner, Neha Gujar and restaurant manager Kartik Sahu at the local police station under IPC Section 188 (disobedience of an order) and under relevant sections of the Food Safety and Standards Act for failure to comply with the directions of food safety officer and running the restaurant without a license.

FDA has been carrying out a special drive of eateries in Mumbai after Papa Pancho da Dhaba restaurant in Bandra was closed down by the administration last month following an inspection after a customer found a rat in their dish.

Between August 17 and September 4, the FDA had inspected 68 restaurants, of which Mumbai Darbar and cloud kitchen Hyprkytchen Foodtech Pvt Ltd that operates eight kitchens across Mumbai were issued stop work notices. Two other restaurants were fined and improvement notices were issued to the other 64 restaurants that food inspectors visited during the drive.

Food safety inspectors (FSOs) will continue to visit restaurants and eateries in the city to check for compliances laid under the Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006. “We have only 13 FSOs and the city has 18,481 registered eateries. The drive will continue as our officials get to examine five eateries in the city in a day on an average,” said an official.

Concerns over Mumbai restaurants flouting food and drugs regulation was raised after a bank executive, Anurag Singh filed a police complaint when he found a rat in his dish at Bandra’s Papa Pancho Da Dhaba, known for its Punjabi cuisince. This led to the arrest of the restaurant’s manager and two cooks.