Sanjay Gaikwad assault row: FDA suspends Ajanta Caterers’ licence hours after MLA canteen inspection; flags 79 ‘violations’ | Mumbai News
MUMBAI: In a rare instance of suo motu action taken on the same day, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suspended the licence of Ajanta Caterers at Colaba’s Akashwani MLA Hostel after just a few hours of inspection. The move was triggered by a viral video on Wednesday showing Shiv Sena legislator Sanjay Gaikwad assaulting a canteen staffer over alleged contaminated food.While the test results of food samples collected from the facility are expected in 14 days, the inspection report, listing 79 violations, is riddled with issues that are all too common at low-cost food establishments in Mumbai. For instance, stagnant water was found in food preparation zones, tiles were broken or missing, and storage racks were dirty and placed directly against the wall.The FDA officials also made 30 additional comments in the report, including: “Raw vegetables placed on the floor. Prepared food kept near the dustbin. Food chopping done on an unclean kitchen floor using an uneven, chipped wooden board. Dead flies observed in a butter pot kept in the kitchen for preparation of butter roti.”Yet, according to FDA officials, the last inspection at Ajanta Caterers was conducted as recently as February this year.Abhay Pandey, President of the All Food and Drug License Holders Foundation, questioned why these 79 violations were not flagged earlier.“The problem is that the FDA has been lenient on canteen operators in such govt or BMC institutions. These are largely used by common public. Either they are not inspected, or the inspections are not carried out properly. It doesn’t make sense that the food operator in this case cleared inspections just a few months ago, and now suddenly 79 problems were pointed out and their licence suspended,” Pandey said.FDA Commissioner Rajesh Narvekar said that large-scale inspections were not possible earlier due to a severe staff shortage. TOI previously reported that there were only five food safety officers for the entire city.This was due to delays in recruitment; 49 new officers were brought on board just last month.Another FDA official said, “The training of new hires is still ongoing. But five of them who are on probation were at the inspection site assisting the area officer. In total, eight officers were on site.”The team began on-site work at around 11 a.m. and wrapped up by 6 p.m., with the inspection completed by 2:30-3 p.m., after which they moved on to food sample collection and analysis.
