FDA suspends licenses of restaurants in Mumbai Cricket Association premises over 'hygiene' issues

The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has suspended the food licences of five outlets at the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) premises over alleged violations of food safety norms, flagging deficiencies in food handling, storage, refrigeration, and sanitation.

As part of its statewide drive, the FDA has suspended the licences of 11 food establishments, including the five outlets at MCA, news agency PTI reported on Monday.

The FDA inspected 45 hotels, restaurants, eateries and dhabas during the drive, issued improvement notices to 33 establishments and conducted 25 raids, according to a press note.

The five MCA outlets facing action are the Permit Room, Pavilion, Mediterranean, Oriental Swing, and Clubway & Pastry Counter. The FDA inspected the outlets on August 20 and found various deficiencies related to hygiene, food handling, storage, refrigeration and sanitation.

What the FDA found at the MCA premises

According to the FDA release, inspectors found ice accumulation in a kitchen refrigerator at the Permit Room, along with an unclean, slippery floor near the kitchen entrance, inadequate temperature control, deteriorated raw materials, and deficiencies in food storage and handling.

The outlet also lacked food-grade conformity certificates for food-contact packaging material and did not conduct regular checks of cooking oil.

The Pavilion faced action after inspectors found ice accumulation, unclean refrigerator components, poor segregation of food items in cold storage, inadequate refrigeration calibration, improper thawing of frozen food, and shortcomings in cooling and storage practices.

At Mediterranean, the FDA found inadequate sanitisation of food equipment, improper cooling, poor portioning practices, inadequate thawing of frozen food, deficient temperature controls and shortcomings in the handling of raw materials and packaging.

The Oriental Swing outlet was found to have an improperly calibrated refrigeration system, an unclean kitchen floor, damaged plaster or paint on part of the kitchen ceiling, inadequate sanitisation and deficiencies in temperature control and oil-quality checks.

At the Clubway & Pastry Counter, the FDA found inadequate work space, improper storage of raw food, a lack of gloves for a food handler, and inadequate measures to prevent dust, dirt, and insects from entering the food preparation area.