NEW DELHI: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has stepped up enforcement against food businesses, suspending the licence of Delhi-based Marche Retail Pvt Ltd for 30 days over serious food safety violations and ordering Daman-based SDP Industries Pvt Ltd to stop the sale of all its ghee variants over alleged non-compliance and adulteration concerns.In a social media post on Sunday, the food regulator said it had taken action against both companies after inspections and sample examinations revealed violations under food safety laws.The licence of Marche Retail was suspended after serious non-compliances were detected during an inspection and subsequent scrutiny of the food business premises, FSSAI said.According to the regulator, the establishment had deficiencies relating to design, operational controls, sanitation, personal hygiene, food-handler training and mandatory record-keeping.The FSSAI has suspended the company’s licence for 30 days and directed it to “cease and desist” from all food business activities until the identified shortcomings are rectified, PTI reported.In the case of SDP Industries, the regulator issued a prohibition order over “non-compliant ghee products and adulteration concerns”.During enforcement inspections and sample examination, several ghee products manufactured by the company, including variants sold under brands such as “Shraddha”, “Shree Saras” and “Gokul”, were found to be non-compliant with applicable requirements under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, FSSAI said.“Laboratory analysis of the ghee samples detected A-sitosterol, a plant sterol that is required to be absent in ghee, along with non-conformity in the fatty-acid composition. The findings were indicative of the presence of foreign/vegetable fats and raised serious food safety concerns,” the regulator said.The FSSAI has directed SDP Industries to immediately stop selling all variants of ghee manufactured, stored or sold from its authorised premises.The company has also been asked to ensure that the prohibited products are not placed in the market or sold to consumers with immediate effect and until further orders, the regulator said.The latest action follows a wider enforcement drive by the FSSAI against food businesses over misleading advertisements, false claims, labelling violations and other regulatory non-compliances.On Saturday, the regulator said it had issued 150 notices to food companies in recent months, including major brands such as Nestle India, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola India.“Over 150 notices issued for misleading advertisements, false claims & labelling non-compliances,” the FSSAI said in a social media post.The list shared by the regulator included Nestle India, PepsiCo, Abbott India Ltd, Red Bull India, Danone India, Monster Energy India Pvt Ltd, Hell Energy Pvt Ltd, Mondelez India, Coca-Cola India, Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Ferrero India and Kenvue Inc.The FSSAI said it had also taken action against various food business operators for serious violations of food safety laws and regulations in recent months.The regulator has particularly cracked down on energy drink and alcoholic beverage makers and said products from several companies were seized during enforcement action.The FSSAI also issued 12 notices to e-commerce companies Amazon and Flipkart.“One Amazon warehouse license has also been cancelled,” it said.More than 30 notices have been issued to food service establishments including KFC, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Domino’s and Costa Coffee, the regulator said.It has also suspended five licences of Domino’s.Earlier this week, the FSSAI said several companies had started taking corrective action following notices issued against them.(With agency inputs)
