FSDA suspends railway’s base kitchen ops

The Uttar Pradesh Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA) has halted operations at a railway base kitchen in Lucknow after inspectors discovered numerous food safety and hygiene violations across catering units in the state. This decision comes following an inspection of 41 railway catering units and two food establishments that supply airlines, according to a TOI report.

Inspectors found critical issues in hygiene, food storage, staff cleanliness, drinking water testing, pest control, and the upkeep of necessary records. They also canceled the food registration of an establishment in Saharanpur and seized nearly a tonne of food items in Kanpur Nagar.

During the inspections, FSDA teams identified deficiencies at 30 units, such as poor cleanliness, missing drinking water testing reports, absent employee health certificates, gaps in pest control measures, and incomplete stock registers. They also noted the absence of food-grade certificates for packaging materials.

Authorities issued notices to the establishments, urging them to correct the identified issues and adhere to food safety regulations. Furthermore, 978 kg of a food item was seized in Kanpur Nagar due to being stored without proper labeling or information about its manufacturing and expiration dates. Samples of 26 food items were sent to a lab for quality testing, with results expected to determine if they meet food safety standards.

The inspection drive included airline food suppliers at Lucknow and Varanasi airports, where officials found employees not wearing protective gear, missing mandatory records and certificates, and labeling problems. Improvement notices were given to these establishments to fix the identified deficiencies. The inspections aimed to ensure compliance with food safety and hygiene standards at catering facilities serving railway passengers and airline customers.