According to doctors, consumption of rodent-infected food could normally lead to allergy, fever, diarrhea, and even cause blood infection and meningitis.
Imagine you've opened the sealed packet containing your favourite brown bread and a rat jumps out. Too bizarre to be true? That is just what happened at country's premiere All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), where thousands of patients get admitted for treatment daily. A live rat was found inside the sealed packet of Brown-Hi Fibre bread manufactured by M/s Bonn Nutrients. The medical institute has now banned the bread maker for three years.
Bonn Nutrients produces a variety of food products including breads, biscuits, cakes and cookies that are not only sold in India but in international market as well. Mail Today tried to contact the bread division manager of the company, but there was no response to our query sent via e-mail.
The Bonn sliced bread is served to patients admitted in various wards of the hospital, including patients who have undergone surgery and those suffering from severe infections. According to doctors, consumption of rodent-infected food could normally lead to allergy, fever, diarrhea, and even cause blood infection and meningitis.
AIIMS Medical Superintendent (MS) denied having any information about the incident. However, a senior doctor claimed the incident indeed took place and the bread packet with the rat inside it was noticed by alert AIIMS staff.
On September 24, the medical institute issued a notice in which it mentioned the incident and barred Bonn Nutrients from supplying any orders for a period of three years. Mail Today has a copy of the notice served to the manufacturer.
"A live rat was found on 29.07.2015 in the sealed packet of Brown-Hi Fibre Bread Slice manufactured by M/s Bonn Nutrients Pvt. Ltd and the company has failed to submit satisfactory reply to the showcause notice dated 09.09.2015," the notice says.
Bonn Nutrients is the latest food company to be in soup. With the recent controversy regarding the presence of lead in Nestle's Maggi, there is heightened concern over the safety of processed food in India. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has been on a testing spree since then.
"The company has also failed in keeping 'Good Manufacturing Practice'. The quality wing of the company has failed in detecting such incident before the supplies are packed in cartons," says the notice issued by AIIMS.
Food experts say that a government hospital needs to maintain proper hygiene level in and around its campus. The quality of food products in India has been under the scanner for some time now. A recent data on the United States Food and Drugs Association (FDA) website shows that it has rejected more snack imports from India than any other country in the first five months of 2015.
According to the US FDA website, Indian products were found to contain high levels of pesticides, mould and the bacteria salmonella, a report in the Wall Street Journal said. The report mentions that more than half of all snacks that were tested and then restricted from being sold in the US this year were from India, which also leads the number of snack rejects across the world.
Among the rejected are Haldiram's products. The FDA said on its website that it rejected Haldiram products because it found pesticides in them. In one case, the FDA referred to a product from Gujarat as consisting "in whole or part a filthy, putrid, or decomposed substance."
Recently, close to 700 cadets of Khadakwasla-based National Defence Academy were rushed to the local military hospital after reportedly falling sick due to food poisoning. Sources said cadets started vomiting soon after having lunch in the mess.
Imagine you've opened the sealed packet containing your favourite brown bread and a rat jumps out. Too bizarre to be true? That is just what happened at country's premiere All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), where thousands of patients get admitted for treatment daily. A live rat was found inside the sealed packet of Brown-Hi Fibre bread manufactured by M/s Bonn Nutrients. The medical institute has now banned the bread maker for three years.
Bonn Nutrients produces a variety of food products including breads, biscuits, cakes and cookies that are not only sold in India but in international market as well. Mail Today tried to contact the bread division manager of the company, but there was no response to our query sent via e-mail.
The Bonn sliced bread is served to patients admitted in various wards of the hospital, including patients who have undergone surgery and those suffering from severe infections. According to doctors, consumption of rodent-infected food could normally lead to allergy, fever, diarrhea, and even cause blood infection and meningitis.
AIIMS Medical Superintendent (MS) denied having any information about the incident. However, a senior doctor claimed the incident indeed took place and the bread packet with the rat inside it was noticed by alert AIIMS staff.
On September 24, the medical institute issued a notice in which it mentioned the incident and barred Bonn Nutrients from supplying any orders for a period of three years. Mail Today has a copy of the notice served to the manufacturer.
"A live rat was found on 29.07.2015 in the sealed packet of Brown-Hi Fibre Bread Slice manufactured by M/s Bonn Nutrients Pvt. Ltd and the company has failed to submit satisfactory reply to the showcause notice dated 09.09.2015," the notice says.
Bonn Nutrients is the latest food company to be in soup. With the recent controversy regarding the presence of lead in Nestle's Maggi, there is heightened concern over the safety of processed food in India. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has been on a testing spree since then.
"The company has also failed in keeping 'Good Manufacturing Practice'. The quality wing of the company has failed in detecting such incident before the supplies are packed in cartons," says the notice issued by AIIMS.
Food experts say that a government hospital needs to maintain proper hygiene level in and around its campus. The quality of food products in India has been under the scanner for some time now. A recent data on the United States Food and Drugs Association (FDA) website shows that it has rejected more snack imports from India than any other country in the first five months of 2015.
According to the US FDA website, Indian products were found to contain high levels of pesticides, mould and the bacteria salmonella, a report in the Wall Street Journal said. The report mentions that more than half of all snacks that were tested and then restricted from being sold in the US this year were from India, which also leads the number of snack rejects across the world.
Among the rejected are Haldiram's products. The FDA said on its website that it rejected Haldiram products because it found pesticides in them. In one case, the FDA referred to a product from Gujarat as consisting "in whole or part a filthy, putrid, or decomposed substance."
Recently, close to 700 cadets of Khadakwasla-based National Defence Academy were rushed to the local military hospital after reportedly falling sick due to food poisoning. Sources said cadets started vomiting soon after having lunch in the mess.
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