FSSAI suspends Delhi retailer’s licence, bans Daman ghee products

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has taken regulatory action against two food businesses in Delhi and Daman after inspections and laboratory tests uncovered serious food safety violations and continued non-compliance.

The regulator has suspended the licence of Marche Retail Private Limited in New Delhi for 30 days with immediate effect. Separately, it has issued a prohibition order against SDP Industries Private Limited in Ringanwada, Daman, following concerns over the quality and composition of ghee products manufactured by the company.

FSSAI said inspections at Marche Retail and a subsequent follow-up inspection found deficiencies across several aspects of food safety management.

The violations included shortcomings in the establishment's design and operational controls, sanitation and personal hygiene practices, food-handler training and mandatory record-keeping. Officials also found that required medical records of food handlers were unavailable and that prescribed food safety and hygiene documentation had not been properly maintained.

In view of the violations, FSSAI suspended the company's food licence for 30 days. Marche Retail has been directed to immediately stop all food business activities until the deficiencies are rectified and compliance is verified by the competent authority.

In a separate action, FSSAI issued a prohibition order against SDP Industries Private Limited after enforcement inspections and sampling of several ghee products manufactured at its Ringanwada facility.

The products, sold under brands including Shraddha, Shree Saras and Gokul, were found to be non-compliant with provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and the regulations framed under it.

Laboratory testing of the samples detected beta-sitosterol, a plant sterol that is required to be absent from ghee. The samples also showed deviations in their fatty-acid composition.

According to FSSAI, the findings indicated the possible presence of foreign or vegetable fats in the products, raising serious concerns about their compliance with prescribed standards.

SDP Industries exercised its statutory right to challenge the initial laboratory findings. The appealed samples were subsequently sent to a Referral Food Laboratory for re-analysis.

The referral testing also confirmed that the samples did not meet the prescribed standards, strengthening the regulatory case against the manufacturer.

FSSAI said the violations were not limited to a single batch. The repeated non-compliance found across multiple samples, different periods and several product variants indicated a continuing problem that could not reasonably be attributed to an isolated production lot.

The regulator said the actions were part of its efforts to enforce food safety standards and ensure that food businesses comply with statutory requirements. The affected businesses will have to address the identified deficiencies and meet regulatory requirements before normal operations can resume, where applicable.

With IANS inputs