FSSAI has suspended the licence of West Bengal-based Sanecure Water Project after an enforcement drive in South 24 Parganas found major violations involving hygiene, sanitation, pest control, documentation and equipment maintenance, the food safety regulator said on Sunday.
The suspension applies to all food business activities covered by the company’s licence and will remain in force until further orders, according to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The regulator said the action was taken in the intearest of public health.
FSSAI said inspectors observed poor hygiene and sanitation at the packaged drinking water facility, along with inadequate pest-proofing and significant pest infestation. The inspection also found inadequate personal hygiene facilities, including hand-washing facilities and washrooms, as well as a lack of preventive maintenance for equipment and machinery. Rust and corrosion were observed on equipment, the regulator said.
The enforcement findings also covered the company’s compliance records. FSSAI said Sanecure Water Project did not have a pest-control agreement, food-handler medical and inoculation records, control-sample records, customer complaint and corrective-action records, or vehicle hygiene checklists. The regulator also reported that potable-water testing reports and certificates of analysis for raw materials and chemicals were unavailable.
According to FSSAI, approved-vendor documentation was also missing. It said a copy of the water-testing laboratory record appeared to have been digitally edited or altered. The regulator described the overall findings as severe non-conformance with compulsory sanitary and hygienic requirements.
The action was part of enforcement activity in South 24 Parganas that also resulted in the suspension of Kailash Formulation’s FSSAI licence. In that case, the regulator said the premises had unsatisfactory hygiene and sanitation, required laboratory test reports were missing, and non-compliance was found in packaging and raw materials.
FSSAI’s announcement comes days after the regulator reported separate action against CG Foods at its manufacturing unit in Ajmer, Rajasthan. The company, known for the Wai Wai brand, was directed to discontinue production of a Veg Bhujia Namkeen product because it lacked proper approvals and required safety measures.
During that inspection, FSSAI said the unit was reprocessing floor-collected broken noodles into bhujia products without heat treatment and using pre-dated packaging dates. About 32,017.2 kilograms of stock, including loose broken noodles, was seized on site, while 1,925 boxes of expired finished goods were detained. The regulator also reported serious hygiene and documentation deficiencies, including inadequate pest control.
FSSAI said further regulatory action in the CG Foods matter would be based on laboratory analysis of samples. In the Sanecure Water Project case, the licence suspension remains in effect until further orders.
