FDA suspends licences of 24 eateries in Pune

FDA inspectors found that the reezers used for storing raw materials were extremely dirty. At many restaurants, vegetarian and non-vegetarian food items were kept together

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has suspended the licences of 24 restaurants in the city for failing to comply with cleanliness norms, absence of any record on the use of pesticides and storing of edible food materials in unhygienic conditions.

Hotel Naivedyam near Mitra Mandal chowk in Pune, is one among the 24 eateries whoes license was suspended. (Ravindra Joshi/HT PHOTO)

Poor hygiene standards in the kitchen, failure to maintain and display health check-up record of the staff and failure to present record of pest control measures undertaken in the restaurants were among the reasons for suspension of licence.

Prominent restaurants whose licences were suspended included Naivedyam at Mitra Mandal chowk, Hotel Panchami (Satara Road), The Teres Hotel at Kondhwa, Hotel Samrat on Shankarsheth Road, Hotel Kalpana (Sadashiv peth),and Gokul Pure Veg at Sukhsagar nagar.

FDA inspectors found that the reezers used for storing raw materials were extremely dirty. At many restaurants, vegetarian and non-vegetarian food items were kept together.

It was also found that restaurant operators failed to keep waste bins in the kitchen as a result of which there was considerable filth in the kitchen in dirty condition. The kitchen staff was also found to be working without covering their head, food safety officer V V Rupanawar said.

“In the last two months, we carried out raids on a total of 472 restaurants in the city. We had issued notices to 449 restaurants and asked them to take corrective steps within the stipulated time. However, 24 restaurants failed to comply and hence we have taken action against them,” Rupanawar, food safety officer, Pune.

Suresh Deshmukh, joint commissioner (food) said, “We have ordered inspection of every restaurant in the city. Restaurants which fail to comply will have their licences suspended,” he said.

There are a total of 17,049 restaurants in Pune and 8,166 in Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial township.

Rajesh Shetty, owner of Naivedyam restaurant, Swargate, said , “We have been serving Pune for the last 42 years. There has been no case related hygiene of food or food poisoning. It is true that we have failed to respond to the notice on time but now we have submitted all the documents demanded by the FDA officers. So, there is nothing to worry about the hygiene of the restaurant.”

As per the Food Safety and Standards Act, hotels and restaurants must ensure that the kitchen conditions, as well as the cleanliness and hygiene of the chefs should be maintained as prescribed by FDA. Routine health check-ups of the chef and staff are mandatory. A hotel, restaurant or food stall must cook and serve food in clean utensils. The kitchen serving areas must be kept clean and only potable drinking water must used for cooking. Those handling food must also be sure to cover their hair.

FDA may act against food delivery apps

Following the footsteps of Food and Drug Administration, Mumbai, the Pune branch of the body is also likely to take strong action against online food delivery aggregators for delivering food from unlicenced shops, said FDA officials.

“We have asked for a list of restaurants from where the online food aggregators collects food and delivers. On Monday, we received list from two online food delivery platforms. There is a possibility of the food delivering aggregators delivering food from unauthorised restaurants. After scrutinising, we will take action in a week’s time,” said AJ Bhujbal, assistant commissioner (food) FDA, Pune.

Earlier in October, FDA had issued ‘stop work’ notices to more than 100 outlets listed on Swiggy, Zomato, Foodpanda and Uber Eats platforms. The action was taken under Food Safety and Standard Act (FSSA) 2006 as the restaurants were found selling food with required permissions.

FDA officers said that online food delivery aggregators were also responsible for the quality of food delivered. In July 2018,Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) issued a directive asking e-commerce sites to delist unlicenced and unregistered restaurants by September 30. Following this, FDA had inspected 347 food outlets in Mumbai where food was prepared. During the investigation, it was revealed that 113 food outlets were working without a license.These outlets were serving food through the food delivery aggregators which is proving hazardous to people.