- FDA found cockroaches, fungus, and rusted knives in the kitchen.
- Sodexo India Services' licence suspended due to violations.
- Fortis Hospital acknowledges issues, ensures compliance with safety.
In another major crackdown, the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration found cockroaches, fungus-infested food containers, and rusted knives in the kitchen of Mumbai’s Fortis Hospital. Upon conducting the inspection on Friday, the inspection team found pests, including cockroaches, in the hospital kitchen. Additionally, food waste was also found in the drainage, while food transport containers were infested with fungus and knives were rusted. Following this, the FDA has suspended the licence of Sodexo India Services Pvt Ltd, the establishment identified in its inspection report.
The findings raised serious concerns over hygiene in a kitchen preparing meals for hospital patients, where a clean and hygienic meal is a mandate, considering the well-being of the treated people. The FDA did not clarify whether the affected food in the hospital kitchen was being served to the patients or not.
What did Fortis say?
Reacting to the suspension, Fortis Hospital, Mulund, said patient safety, quality of care and hygiene remained paramount. “We have taken note of the communication from the FDA concerning the on-premise kitchen operated by our third-party dietary service provider, which holds the relevant food business licence. We take the observations raised by the FDA seriously and have directed the service provider to promptly address them and ensure compliance with all applicable food safety requirements,” the hospital said.
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The Maharashtra FDA has suspended licences of 25 food establishments, including hotels, restaurants, bakeries, and canteens, for serious violations of Schedule 4 of the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011.
Similar Crackdown
In a similar action against suspected substandard, adulterated, and wrongly labelled food products, the FDA seized approximately 81,330 kg of stock worth R1.73 crore from 37 establishments across several divisions of the state.
The department said samples of seized food articles had been sent to laboratories for analysis and that further legal action would be taken against those concerned under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, where applicable.