Mumbai's Cafe Mondegar licence suspended: Improper food thawing, cooling lapses — what else did Maharashtra FDA flag?

The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has intensified its enforcement drive under IAS officer Tukaram Mundhe, on 15 September (Tuesday) ordered the suspension of the licences of popular Mumbai eatery Cafe Mondegar and three other food establishments following inspections that revealed major food safety and hygiene lapses.

During an inspection of Cafe Mondegar’s outlet at Metro House in Colaba on 12 September (Saturday), officials detected several violations, the regulator said in a release. These included failure to maintain hot food at the required temperature of at least 60 degrees Celsius and keep cold storage below 5 degrees Celsius, according to PTI.

The inspection also revealed improper thawing practices, insufficient rapid cooling of cooked food, and deficiencies in sanitation and the restaurant’s structure. According to the FDA, these lapses created conditions that could increase the risk of cross-contamination.

“Dampness had damaged the flooring, while an inadequate drainage system near the food preparation area posed a potential cross-contamination risk,” the FDA stated.

3 others lose licences amid festival food safety drive

The state food regulator also took action against three other Mumbai establishments — Maharashtra Biryani Centre in Kandivali East, Tribhuvan Dairy Farm in Ghatkopar West and Mahavir Cashew & Foods Pvt Ltd in Ghatkopar East, by suspending their licences. Inspections at these premises revealed violations of the hygiene and sanitation requirements laid down under Schedule 4 of the Food Safety and Standards Act.

Schedule 4 sets out the mandatory hygiene and sanitation standards that food business operators are required to comply with.

The FDA, which has stepped up its enforcement drive under Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe against food safety, adulteration and hygiene violations, said nine more establishments in Mumbai faced action over shortcomings detected during inspections carried out as part of its festival-season campaign.

The establishments named by the regulator include Ruhafza Bakery in Khar West; Chandru's Pure Ghee Sweets and Sharma Dairy & Fast Food in Andheri West; Punjabi Chandu Halwai LLP in Grant Road East; Shri Narayan Dairy in Vile Parle West; and Gulshan Dairy Farm in Khar West.

As part of the special drive conducted from September 11 to 14, FDA officials inspected 38 food establishments across Mumbai and collected 47 samples for testing. The samples included milk, khoya, ghee and sweets, which were sent for analysis.

Maharashtra FDA action on suspected substandard food

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra FDA collected a sample of barfi at Ayush Milk Supplier in Andheri East and confiscated the remaining 23 kg of stock, valued at ₹6,440. Officials also took a khoya sample from Brijwasi Mithaiyan Shop in Mulund West and seized another 225 kg of stock worth ₹60,300.

The regulator separately carried out inspections at milk and milk-product facilities across Maharashtra. At Shivaratna Milk & Milk Agro Product in Takawade, Kolhapur, officials seized 10 kg of halwa valued at ₹6,000 and 198 kg of rabadi worth ₹45,540 after suspecting both products were substandard. At Creamy Delight in Patas, Pune, officials found 1,519 kg of cow milk, butter and skimmed milk powder worth ₹8.50 lakh, citing labelling violations and suspected quality issues.

At Mahaveer Dairy in Manchar, Pune, the FDA found 49 kg of khoya worth ₹13,720, 104 kg of paneer valued at ₹31,200 and 11 kg of ghee worth ₹7,920, all suspected to be below the required standards. The department said further legal proceedings would be initiated in these cases.

In Jalgaon district, officials seized around 2,155 kg of suspected adulterated sweet halwa valued at ₹5.58 lakh from two transport vehicles. The FDA also confiscated 28 kg of suspected substandard khoya worth ₹12,600 from Brijvilas Dairy in Jalgaon, 16.2 kg of suspected substandard peda and buffalo ghee valued at ₹15,200 from Ekta Dudh Dairy and Sweets in Raver, and 6.5 kg of peda worth ₹2,600 from Tarachand Sundarji and Sons in Chalisgaon.

The FDA further found 19 kg of shrikhand, valued at ₹5,320, being stored in unhygienic conditions at a premises belonging to Samadhan Pawar, according to the regulator's release.

(With inputs from agency)

About the Author

Garvit Bhirani is a journalist based in Gurugram. He is a Deputy Chief Content Producer at LiveMint, where he covers national and international news stories, focusing on accuracy and compelling storytelling for readers. <br><br> With a total of six years of experience in journalism, he has previously worked with Vaco Binary Semantics for Google, taking on the role of news curation lead, and reported from the field on health, education, and agriculture stories for 101reporters and News9. He has also served as a content editor for entertainment and news media organisations. <br><br> Garvit holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism and mass communication from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University and Gurugram University, respectively. During college days, he joined India’s only non-profit student journalism network, where he anchored daily news updates and produced his own weekly show called ‘Data Fix’. <br><br> He was selected for the YES Foundation Media for Social Change Fellowship in Delhi, the Talking Data to the Fourth Pillar residential workshop, and the VOICE Fellowship in Pune. <br><br> He holds certificates in COVID-19-verification reporting, data journalism, food & agriculture, tech policy, media literacy and countering misinformation, and tackling election disinformation courses from Thomson Foundation, IndiaSpend, The Dialogue, US Mission in India, and AFP. <br><br> He can be reached on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/garvit-bhirani">LinkedIn</a> or on <a href="https://x.com/GarvitBhirani">@garvitbhirani</a> on X

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