Pune: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating a complaint against Pune restaurant Pind Punjab after a customer allegedly found a piece of bone in a pure vegetarian thali served at the establishment’s Camp outlet.Joint commissioner (food), Pune FDA, Digambar Bhogawade said, “We are investigating the matter and will inspect the outlet for hygiene standards.”A representative of Pind Punjab’s management told TOI: “The customer has made a false allegation. The customers finished the entire meal after complaining to the staff. It was a piece of Indian spice and not a bone. We will fully cooperate with authorities for any checks.”In such cases, FDA inspectors typically examine whether there has been any violation of Schedule 4 provisions of the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act. These include segregation of vegetarian and non-vegetarian raw materials and food preparation areas, cross-contamination during storage, cooking and serving, food handling and hygiene practices by staff, cleaning and sanitation of utensils, equipment and kitchen surfaces.“This is not a safety issue, but is linked to the handling of food and hygiene practices at the outlet. Food safety inspectors make observations with respect to provisions or schedule 4 of the FSS act in such instances,” said a senior food safety inspector.There is a mandate that veg and non-veg utensils and cooking sections and storage should be different, said a restaurant owner in Camp. “Although we maintain the highest standards of segregation, there can be a risk of cross contamination due to shortage of space, storage and appliances,” he said.Another restaurant owner said, “If basic sectioning and food storage is done properly, there should not be an issue. Meat and poultry should be stored in separate refrigerators as per the FSSAI guidelines.”Diners are concerned about such mix-ups at restaurants. “We are pure vegetarians and have decided to eat at vegetarian only outlets. I don’t want any surprises in my meals,” said Rakhi Sharma, a resident of Kalyaninagar.“It’s becoming difficult to believe if there was actually an issue in the food or if something was planted in it. As a diner, I am getting apprehensive about eating out,” said Namrata Deshmukh, a resident of Vimannagar.
