IAS officer Tukaram Munde, who came into limelight by taking swift action against food establishments in Maharashtra, on Monday suspended the food licenses of many outlets in Mumbai. Actually, Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has suspended the food licenses of five outlets built on the land of Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA). There were a lot of problems related to cleanliness at these food outlets. Violations of food safety rules, huge deficiencies in food handling, storage, refrigeration and cleaning were found.
This action was taken on the instructions of Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Tukaram Munde. Giving information, FDA said that as part of the campaign being run in Maharashtra, FDA has suspended the licenses of 11 food restaurants including five outlets of Mumbai Cricket Association.
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Inspection of 45 hotels and restaurants
FDA inspected 45 hotels, restaurants, eating places and dhabas during this campaign. Out of these, notices were issued to 33 places for improvement and raids were conducted at 25 places.
The five MCA outlets where action has been taken are Permit Room, Pavilion, Mediterranean, Oriental Swing and Clubway and Pastry Counter. The FDA inspected the outlets on August 20 and found numerous deficiencies related to cleanliness, food handling, storage, refrigeration and sanitation.
What did FDA get in place of MCA?
According to the FDA, the food inspector conducting the investigation found frozen ice in the kitchen refrigerator in the permit room. Also, the kitchen had a dirty and slippery floor near the entrance, there was no proper temperature control, the raw material kept in the kitchen was spoiled and there were deficiencies in food storage and handling.
The outlets also did not have food-grade conformance certificates for food-contact packaging materials and were not regularly testing cooking oil.
The FDA took action against Pavilion after finding deficiencies in freezers that were dirty, improper separation of food items in cold storage, improper refrigeration calibration, improper thawing of frozen food, and cooling and storage practices. In the Mediterranean, the FDA found that food items were not being cleaned properly.
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Action taken against these restaurants
Apart from the five MCA outlets, the statewide action includes Lenexis Foodworks in Mahim, Cafe Cadel in Shivaji Park, China Town Fast Food Center in Mulund, Morya Misal in Warje and Saoji Uphaar Grah in Nagpur.
The FDA suspended the registration of China Town Fast Food Center with immediate effect after finding excessive use of artificial colors and MSG, frequent use of highly oxidized cooking oil, cockroach infestation, unhygienic food storage, risk of cross-contamination between vegetarian and non-vegetarian food, and inadequate drainage.
The FDA also suspended the license of Moraya Misal in Pune after it was found to contain artificial colors in food items and storage and use of expired food products.