Noida: Patanjali store shut for not having licence, food samples seized

Manager of the Patanjali mega store, said the employees were not aware of the lack of food licence.

The food safety and drugs administration department of Gautam Budh Nagar has shut a Patanjali mega store in Noida on Saturday for failing to procure a food licence.

BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE: Officials of Food Safety and Drug Administration department shut down Patanjali mega store in Noida sector 110 **Pic received on January 20, 2018 (Please check with Ruwa altaf for details)

Two samples of coconut oil and energy bar have been seized by the officials for further testing and the store has been shut until it procures a licence from the food department.

The inspection was done by the officials on Friday afternoon. The Patanjali mega store is located in the community market of Sector 110 in Noida and it offered a variety of Patanjali branded food and lifestyle products. It store has been operating for the past three months.

“When we inspected the store, we found that it was being run without a proper licence from the food department. We have sealed the shop and it cannot operate unless it procures a fresh licence from us,” said Sanjay Sharma, designated officer, food safety and drugs administration department, Gautam Budh Nagar.

Explaining the process for procuring a licence, Sharma said, “Every dealer who sells food products has to procure a licence from the food Department and it is illegal to run a store without it. Procuring a licence is easy as the form is available online on our website and the fee is only Rs 2,000 per year.”

Sonu Goswami, manager of the Patanjali mega store, said the employees were not aware of the lack of food licence.

“These procedures are usually done at a senior level and we were not aware of it. This is a new store and it has hardly been three months since we opened shop. We requested the officials that if they had any doubt about the products, then they should take the sample from the manufacturing factory of Patanjali and not from the store, but they did not listen to us. Now, we have applied for a licence and, hopefully, the store will open again soon,” Goswami said.