The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has suspended the food business licence of the canteen operating at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarters after repeated violations of food safety norms remained unaddressed.
The action followed a second inspection carried out on July 22, during which FDA officials found that the canteen operator had failed to rectify 39 deficiencies identified during an earlier inspection in June.
According to the FDA, the canteen, operated by Kamal Caterers Private Limited, was first inspected on June 18. An improvement notice was subsequently issued on June 19 and served on the operator on June 24, directing it to eliminate the shortcomings and submit a compliance report.
However, officials said the operator neither responded to the notice nor implemented the required corrective measures. As the violations continued to persist, the FDA suspended the canteen’s food business licence with effect from July 22.
The inspection uncovered a range of serious hygiene and food safety issues, including cockroach infestation, unclean food preparation areas, poorly maintained kitchen equipment, malfunctioning temperature control systems and the absence of mandatory sanitation records.
The FDA also observed that food containers were not labelled properly, employees lacked mandatory FoSTaC (Food Safety Training and Certification) qualifications, food safety records were not maintained and several statutory reports had not been generated.
The regulator said the suspension will remain in force until the operator complies with the prescribed food safety standards and rectifies all deficiencies.
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