Maharashtra FDA suspends licences of seven eateries including Ottoman Cafe, Bharat Canteen over food safety violations

FDA suspended licences or registrations at seven Mumbai food establishments after raids found unhygienic kitchens, improper food storage, unauthorised colours and other safety violations. A statewide drive also seized food and dairy products worth ₹1.56 crore over suspected adulteration.

Tukaram Mundhe-led Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has suspended the licences or registrations of seven food establishments across Mumbai following recent raids there in which violations of food safety norms were identified. The eateries that faced the FDA crackdown include Mumbai Darbar Family Restaurant in Lower Parel, Ottoman Cafe in Andheri West, Chacha Eagle Kulfi Falooda in Jogeshwari West, Bharat Canteen in Andheri West, Green Turtle Hospitality in Oshiwara, Atul Tiffin in Byculla and P. B. Enterprises in Sewri West.

What FDA raids found

The action came after they were found to be in violation of Schedule 4 of the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration) Regulations, 2011 during raids conducted on October 23 and 24. These included unhygienic kitchens and drainage systems, improper storage of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food, use of unauthorised food colours and absence of medical certificates for food handlers.

In addition to this, the FDA also seized around 43.56 tonnes of food stock and 719.2 litres of milk and ghee, collectively valued at ₹1.56 crore, during a statewide drive, officials said on Saturday.

The seized food products were suspected to be substandard, adulterated or incorrectly labelled.

564 litres of milk destroyed

The department also destroyed 564 litres of milk in Mumbai and suspended the licences or registrations of several establishments for violations of food safety norms.

The Konkan division recorded seizures of 9.99 tonnes of food stock worth ₹53.55 lakh, while the Pune division seized 2.11 tonnes of food items valued at ₹7.93 lakh. In Nashik, the FDA seized 4,069 kg of food products and 62.2 litres of ghee worth ₹8.25 lakh.

In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar division, 26.84 tonnes of food items valued at ₹64 lakh were seized, while the Nagpur division reported the seizure of 883.3 kg of oil worth ₹1.77 lakh.

In Nanded, the FDA seized 1,528 kg of refined soybean oil worth ₹3.05 lakh on suspicion of adulteration.

The FDA also seized prohibited food items worth ₹19.56 lakh in Pune, ₹4.22 lakh in Mumbai and ₹19,090 in Nashik.

"In the Nashik division, officials seized 2,908 kg of spices and ajwain worth ₹14.16 lakh from two locations. The seizure included 2,230 kg of spices worth ₹11.86 lakh in Nashik and 678 kg of ajwain worth ₹2.30 lakh in Jalgaon over suspected misbranding and substandard quality," it said.

29 drug licences cancelled

FDA also cancelled 29 drug licences and suspended 71 others across the state after a two-week inspection drive uncovered widespread regulatory violations, an official statement said on Friday.

Covering 937 establishments, including retail chemists, blood banks, and pharmaceutical manufacturing plants, the drive resulted in 450 deficiency notices and seizures of illegal drugs and cosmetics worth over ₹28.52 lakh.

As per an official release, the administration issued 382 notices to drug sellers after detecting deficiencies and subsequently suspended 49 licences and cancelled 22 for violations of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and Rules.

The FDA also conducted 105 inspections of drug, cosmetic and medical device manufacturers, blood centres, blood storage centres and drug testing laboratories. The number of inspections increased from 31 in the first week to 74 in the second week.