Jehangir hosp fined ₹1 L for violating food safety act

The hospital has admitted its mistake and deposited the penalty, says will seek further approval at the earliest

After a patient had found bloody cotton swabs in the soup served to her at Jehangir Hospital, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has initiated adjudication process against its canteen and slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh for violating the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and Food and Safety Standard Regulations, 2011. Earlier, a notice was issued to the canteen after FDA officials visited the facility to inspect after a complaint was lodged. Meanwhile, the hospital has paid the fine and claims that the FDA has marked their kitchens clean and hygienic.

Earlier this month, Mahesh Satpute had complained to the FDA about the cotton swabs incident. Satpute had immediately reported the matter to the senior management, which had allegedly brushed it off. It prompted him to file a complaint with Koregaon Park police station and also convey the matter to the FDA and Pune Municipal Corporation.

Suresh Deshmukh, joint commissioner of FDA, Pune region, said, “Our team visited the hospital canteen facility the next day and inspected the place. We received the complaint from Satpute but we were unable to find any clues or any proof. However, we found other provisions of the food safety acts which were not fulfilled by the facility.”

An improvement notice was issued on the basis of the inspection and an application was filed for adjudication as per the Food and Safety Act, 2006.

Hospital officials agreed that provisions of the food safety norms were violated by them and a penalty of Rs 1 lakh was imposed. “Providing good and healthy food is the responsibility of the canteen operators and they should mandatorily follow it or face action,” added Deshmukh.

The official spokesperson of Jehangir Hospital told Mirror, “FDA has given us a clean chit for the hygiene and cleanliness of the kitchen. However, they have made some other observations. They have levied Rs 1 lakh fine for these issues and we have paid the same to them.

The observations have now been closed and we will be doing the needful by sending photographic records to the FDA so that they can validate our premises as per their norms. We would again like to reiterate that the hospital kitchen is hygienic and clean and there are no compliance issues.”

FDA had inspected the hospital canteen after bloodied cotton swabs were found in a patient’s soup