FDA raid, notice to eatery in VCA Complex

Nagpur: A team of the food wing of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducted a raid on Tuesday at Red Diva Foods at VCA complex, Sadar. On finding rat droppings in the bread, the FDA has issued improvement notice to the eatery under section 32 of Food Safety Act.

The FDA team comprising of food safety officers (FSO) Akhilesh Raut and AS Mahajan under the leadership of assistant commission FDA (food) NR Wakode found the place extremely unhygienic. The team had got a tip off from Mohammad Shahid Sharif, president of Anti-Adulteration Consumer Society. 

"The staff didn't wear gloves, they had no aprons on. The eatery had not done pest control for long," said Wakode. The team collected bread samples and sent them for testing to the lab at Pune since the Nagpur lab is yet to appoint technicians. 

Wakode said if the samples were found to contain rat droppings, as was visible on physical examination, the FDA will file a case against REDS in court. The reports of the tests will be available within a fortnight. 

Sharif welcomed the FDA action, but demanded stricter action, including suspension of license. "The staff works in extremely unhygienic conditions, with no medical exam done for years. There were rats and cockroaches all over," he said. 

Besides, the eatery does not mention MRP on products but only in the bills. There is no use by date on products. Sharif claimed the outlet also violates norms of weights and measures and a complaint has been filed there too.