FSSAI Issues Notices to Delhi Aerocity Luxury Hotels Over Food Safety Violations

New Delhi: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued show-cause notices to prominent five-star hotels in Delhi Aerocity following inspections that uncovered serious food safety and hygiene violations. FSSAI conducted inspections at Andaz Delhi, operated under Hyatt’s luxury lifestyle brand Andaz, and JW Marriott.

The action followed surprise inspections during which live cockroaches, mould-affected food and a gutka packet in a bottling plant were found at the hotels. Licensing-related violations were also detected.

During the inspection at Andaz Delhi, operated by Juniper Hotels Private Limited, around 87 kg of expired sweets were found in the confectionery production section. The sweets were destroyed on the spot. Expired cake bases and packets of bread were also found. Some bread packets reportedly had new dates printed over older dates.

Serious lapses were also found in the handling of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food. At the hotel’s ‘Annamaya’ kitchen, cutting boards used for vegetarian and non-vegetarian food were found immersed in the same water container. In the room dining kitchen, non-vegetarian food was found being cooked on burners designated for vegetarian food.

Cockroaches were found near freezers, while flies and mosquitoes were found in the grinding room. Spider webs were also found in several areas. A gutka packet was found in the bottling plant area. Lapses were also identified in waste management, monitoring food temperatures, separating food items that could cause allergies and checking the expiry dates of raw materials.

Samples of cow ghee, vegetable mayonnaise, coconut milk powder, masoor dal, tomato sauce, orange marmalade and coconut biscuits were collected for testing.

59 Violations Found at JW Marriott

A two-day inspection at JW Marriott reportedly documented 59 violations. Besides licensing and labelling irregularities, inspectors also found certain retail and relabelling activities that were not covered by the hotel’s FSSAI licence.

Some packaged food products carried incorrect FSSAI licence numbers, while manufacturers’ addresses were incomplete. The hotel was unable to produce the required licences or approval documents for certain products, including paneer, khoya, chana masala and chillies during the inspection.

Unhygienic utensils, poor sanitation in cooking and food-handling areas, visible particles in drinking water, cockroaches and flies were also found. Mouldy apples, rotten tomatoes, uncovered food, damaged storage containers and improperly stored cut vegetables were among the other violations detected.

Hygiene and storage-related lapses were also found in the Chinese, Indian, Italian and bakery kitchens. Rust was found in the drinking-water storage tank.

Samples of honey, milk powder, drinking water, red velvet sponge, rasmalai, khoya, paneer and chutney were collected for laboratory testing.

Further action will be based on the inspection findings and the explanations submitted by the hotels.

The action in Delhi comes at a time when stringent food safety inspections are being conducted in Maharashtra under the leadership of Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Tukaram Munde.

In Bengaluru too, inspections were recently carried out at 26 three-star and five-star hotels, where expired food, mouldy vegetables and poor hygiene conditions were found.