‘Expired food, pest infestation’: FSSAI issues notices to two luxury hotels in Delhi over food safety violations

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued notices to two luxury hotels in Delhi’s Aerocity, JW Marriott and Andaz Hotel, due to numerous alleged food safety violations. These violations included expired food items, pest infestation, and unsanitary conditions.

At Andaz Delhi, the FSSAI observed expired sweets, cakes, bread packets, and cockroaches near freezers, mosquitoes in the grinding room, houseflies, and spider webs. The authority also noted duplicate date-marking on expired bread packaging, severe unpleasant odors, and chillers located next to bathrooms with exhaust venting into the chiller section.

Similarly, at JW Marriott, the FSSAI found spoiled food, improper food storage, and cross-contamination risks. This included fungal growth on apples, rotten tomatoes, uncovered food, and damaged storage containers. The authority also noted severe hygiene and sanitation deficiencies, including unclean utensils, visible particulate matter in drinking water, inadequate pest control, cockroaches, and fruit flies.

Both hotels were found to have improper segregation of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food and inadequate storage of food. Additionally, JW Marriott was reported to have been retailing food products under its name without the necessary endorsement in its Food Business Operator's FSSAI license. Andaz Delhi allegedly failed to verify the FSSAI licenses of its vendors.

The FSSAI has collected surveillance samples of items like honey, ghee, paneer, and milk powder from both hotels for further analysis. When asked for comment, the two hotels declined to respond.