Mumbai FDA festive-season crackdown: Blinkit Vile Parle loses food licence; five other establishments' licences suspended

The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration FDA has suspended the licences of five food establishments and cancelled those of three others in Mumbai after inspections found violations related to food safety hygiene storage and handling ahead of the festive seasonThe action was part of a statewide FDA crackdown carried out between Thursday October 1 and Monday October 5 during which the department seized 30472 kg of food stock and 1238 packets suspected to be substandard adulterated expired or wrongly labelled The seized stock was valued at Rs 5069 lakhThe establishments whose licences were suspended in Mumbai include Cafe Sultan in Kalina Lo Fresh Food Pvt Ltd in Marol Country Club and Suraj Lama Momos in Andheri West and Cafe Pakeezah in Santacruz West Inspections found deficiencies related to hygiene food handling storage premises cleanliness and measures to prevent contaminationThe licences of Blinkit on SV Road in Vile Parle Copenhagen Hospitality in Vile Parle and Eatclubs in Bandra West were cancelled after inspections found noncompliance with applicable food safety and hygiene requirementsIn a separate action in Raigad the food licence of Rajidi Retail Private Limited in Kalamboli Panvel City was suspended with immediate effect The FDA found food items being stored and sold in an unclean and unhealthy environment and said the conditions were inconsistent with provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 and related rules and regulationsFDA seizes prohibited food itemsThe FDA also seized prohibited food items worth Rs 222 crore during the statewide drive A total of 15 FIRs were registered 26 people were arrested six establishments were sealed and five vehicles were seized The total value of the seized vehicles was Rs 6760 lakhIn the Konkan division the FDA conducted a special inspection drive against prohibited food items between October 1 and 5 Six establishments were inspected and prohibited stock worth Rs 2176205250 was seized Six FIRs were registered and 14 people were arrested while two establishments were sealed and four vehicles valued at Rs 67 lakh were seizedIn the Pune division seven establishments were inspected between October 1 and 2 with prohibited items found at all seven Food stock worth Rs 138105 was seized seven FIRs were registered and 10 people were arrested Four establishments were sealed and one vehicle valued at Rs 60000 was seizedIn the Nashik division two establishments were inspected between October 1 and 5 with prohibited food items found at both Stock worth Rs 329876 was seized two FIRs were registered and two people were arrested No establishment was sealed and no vehicle was seizedFood stock seized across MaharashtraIn Akola an FDA team acting on confidential information inspected Arco Transport in Raylijin on October 5 and found various brands of sweets transported from Ahmedabad in Gujarat in unclean and unhygienic conditionsThe food items included sweet halwa traditional sweet halwa rich sweet Brajnidhi sweet and Murlidhar sweet Samples were collected from stock transported in two vehicles The remaining 1900 kg of stock valued at an estimated Rs 572 lakh was seized and is to be destroyed as per the rules at the SWM processing plant of the Akola Municipal CorporationIn the Konkan division the FDA seized 11487 kg of food items during its festive season driveAt Shama Bakery in Ulhasnagar 7061 kg of jeera khari and milk toast worth Rs 15555 was seized over packaging and labelling violationsAt ALHALAL FOODS in Padgha Bhiwandi 2040 kg of packed chicken valued at Rs 482700 was seized after expired food items were foundAt Universal Business School in Kashivali Karjat 116 kg of packed green peas worth Rs 14500 was seized after the item was suspected to be substandardAt Koral Food Products in Dombivli 9238 kg of red chilli sauce soybean sauce chilli powder maize starch maida and caramel colour collectively valued at Rs 296487 was seized after the products were suspected to be substandard and labelling violations were foundAt Sweet Corner in Naupada Thane 23 kg of mix farsan worth Rs 8820 was seized after it was found to be misbrandedIn the Pune division the FDA seized 4289 kg of food items and 1238 packets worth a total of Rs 761840 from three establishmentsAt Sagar Traders in Kupwad Sangli 1238 packets of roasted vermicelli worth Rs 37140 were seized after labelling violations were found and the product was suspected to be substandardAt Ganesh Sahakari Dudh Vyavsaayik Sanstha Maryadit in Rajuri Junnar 245 kg of ghee worth Rs 229500 was seized over labelling violations and suspicion that the product was substandardAt Shree Dev Food Products in Varsoli Maval 108 kg of mixed chikki and 2798 kg of roasted peanuts together weighing 2906 kg and valued at Rs 495200 were seized after labelling violations were found and the products were suspected to be substandardIn Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district the FDA seized 107984 kg of refined palmolein oil worth Rs 2332455 from Bhagyoday Agro Industries in Ghaigaon Gangapur Road Vaijapur after it was suspected to be substandard and misbrandedAt Natural Dairy in Vaijapur paneer cream and ghee were found to have been produced or stored in unhygienic conditions The paneer was also suspected to be adulterated The seized stock included 59 kg of loose paneer worth Rs 18880 11 kg of loose cream worth Rs 4400 and 28 kg of ghee worth Rs 19600The FDA said it would continue inspections and take action against food businesses involved in violations during the festive season Citizens can report food quality complaints or malpractices by calling the tollfree number 1800222365 or through the Food and Drug Grievance Portal