The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Sunday said it has suspended the licences of West Bengal-based Kailash Formulation and Sanecure Water Project after uncovering severe violations of hygiene, sanitation and compliance standards.
“Enforcement drives in South Twenty Four Parganas, West Bengal, led to the suspension of FSSAI licences for Kailash Formulation and Sanecure Water Project due to severe violations of hygiene, sanitation and compliance standards,” it said in a social media post.
Packaged drinking water company Sanecure Water Project’s licence was suspended for contraventions and major violations of regulations, it said. “Poor hygiene and sanitation, inadequate pest-proofing, and significant pest infestation were observed, raising serious concerns over food safety. Inadequate personal hygiene facilities, including hand-washing facilities and washrooms, along with lack of preventive maintenance of equipment and machinery, were observed. Rust/corrosion has been observed on equipment,” it added.
It also said that key documentation and compliance gaps were observed, including the absence of a pest-control agreement, food-handler medical and inoculation records, control-sample records, customer complaint/CAPA records, and vehicle hygiene checklists. “Non-availability of potable water testing reports and COAs for raw materials/chemicals, approved-vendor documentation. The water test lab record copy was also found to be digitally edited/altered,” it added.
Noting that severe non-conformance to stipulated compulsory sanitary and hygienic requirements was also observed, FSSAI added that the licence of Sanecure Water Project has been suspended “in the interest of public health in respect of all food business activities for which licence has been granted till further orders.”
In the case of Kailash Formulations, overall hygiene and sanitation of the premises were found to be unsatisfactory, it added. Required lab test reports were missing. Non-compliance in packaging and raw materials was also observed, the food safety regulator noted.
Earlier this week, FSSAI also said that enforcement action was taken against CG Foods, known for brand Wai Wai, following serious food safety violations at its manufacturing unit in Ajmer, Rajasthan. The food safety regulator said it has directed CG Foods “to discontinue the production of Veg Bhujia Namkeen product without proper approvals and measures.” It also said that during an inspection of the unit it was found that the firm was reprocessing floor-collected broken noodles into bhujia products without heat treatment, along with using pre-dated packaging dates.
“About 32,017.2 kg stock was seized on-site, including loose broken noodles. Additionally, 1,925 boxes of expired finished goods were detained and strict legal proceedings were initiated against the FBO,” it added. The inspection also revealed severe hygienic and documentation deficiencies, including inadequate pest control, it added. FSSAI will take further regulatory action based on laboratory analysis of samples.