FSSAI suspends licences of two food businesses over safety violations

The FSSAI has suspended the licences of Kailash Formulation and Sanecure Water Project in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas over severe food safety, hygiene and sanitation violations. Inspections found missing records, pest infestation, poor maintenance and other compliance lapses

New Delhi: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Sunday said it had suspended the licences of two food businesses in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district following enforcement action that found severe violations of food safety, hygiene and sanitation requirements.

The licences of Kailash Formulation and Sanecure Water Project have been suspended in the interest of public health and will remain suspended until further orders, according to the FSSAI.

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“Enforcement drives in South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, lead 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.

At Kailash Formulation, authorities found the overall cleaning, hygiene and sanitation of the premises to be unsatisfactory.

The inspection also found inadequate hand-washing, changing and hygiene facilities, along with missing medical examination, inoculation and personal hygiene records for food handlers.

The company had also failed to maintain mandatory laboratory test reports, calibration records, certificates of analysis (COAs), product control-sample records and other required documentation, inspectors found.

They further noted inadequate lighting, flaking plaster and paint, improper waste and old-stock management, and the absence of preventive maintenance and sewage-disposal records.

The enforcement assessment also found non-compliance related to packaging, raw materials and training. Food-grade certificates and migration reports for packaging materials, including PET bottles and caps, were not available.

Based on the detailed assessment, inspection report and relevant documents, the FSSAI concluded that the premises showed severe non-conformance with stipulated sanitary, hygienic and food safety requirements.

At Sanecure Water Project, inspectors observed poor hygiene and sanitation, inadequate pest-proofing and significant pest infestation, raising serious food safety concerns.

The inspection also found inadequate personal hygiene facilities, including hand-washing facilities and washrooms, as well as a lack of preventive maintenance of equipment and machinery. Rust and corrosion were observed on equipment.

Several key compliance documents were also found to be missing, including a pest-control agreement, food-handler medical and inoculation records, control-sample records, customer complaint and corrective and preventive action (CAPA) records, and vehicle hygiene checklists.

The inspection further found that potable water testing reports and certificates of analysis for raw materials and chemicals were unavailable, along with approved-vendor documentation.

The FSSAI said a copy of the water-test laboratory record was also found to have been digitally edited or altered.