Now Reading: FSSAI suspends licences of two food units over live insects, rodent droppings
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FSSAI suspends licences of two food units over live insects, rodent droppings
FSSAI suspends licences of two food units over live insects, rodent droppings
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has suspended licences of two food manufacturers after inspections found serious violations. At VKC Nuts Private Limited in Uttar Pradesh, inspectors discovered live…
The Story in Brief
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has suspended licences of two food manufacturers after inspections found serious violations. At VKC Nuts Private Limited in Uttar Pradesh, inspectors discovered live insects in pistachios, heavy black mould on walls and ceilings, rodent droppings, rusted machinery, and a live lizard near open crates of figs. They also found a food handler sorting figs with a bandaged hand. The unit scored only 38% in compliance assessment.
At Chheda Specialities Foods Pvt Ltd in Maharashtra, inspectors found workers mixing besan dough with bare hands, peeling bananas on contaminated floors beside decomposing waste, fungal growth around edible oil tanks, broken insect-proof mesh, and raw materials stored on wet, dusty floors. Multiple food samples from earlier inspections were declared unsafe or misbranded. The unit scored 42% compliance. Both licences remain suspended until corrective measures are implemented.
The Indian Opinion
The FSSAI's crackdown on food safety violations is welcome, but one must ask if these actions are consistent or merely reactive. The regulator inspects units and finds live insects, mould, and rodent droppings yet only suspends licences temporarily. Consumers deserve to know if such units are ever permanently shut or if they resume operations after cosmetic fixes. The real test is whether the FSSAI follows up with criminal prosecutions and publishes a public registry of violators. Without transparency and deterrence, these suspensions become a revolving door for unsafe food.
Sources (3): timesofindia.indiatimes.com, hindustantimes.com, ndtvprofit.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 3 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 3 sources.
