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Video of unhygienic preparation of 'nimbu pani' at Kurla station food stall goes viral, railways responds

A video showing an employee of a food stall at Kurla station in Mumbai preparing 'nimbu pani' in an unhygienic manner has gone viral on social media prompting Central Railways to force-shut the stall.

Cental Railways force-shut the food stall at Kurla station on Monday 

Mumbai: Central Railways (CR) has landed in yet another controversy after a video showing one of its employees preparing lemonade in a most unhygienic manner emerged and subsequently went viral on social media. Shot by commuters at the Kurla station on the Mumbai suburban railway network, the video led to the closure of the food stall by concerned authorities on Monday.

Earlier this week, commuters shot a video showing a worker employed with the food stall taking water from an overhead tank to prepare lemonade to be sold at the stall. In addition, the video also shows the worker using his bare hands to stir the lemonade, a clear violation of food safety and hygiene guidelines as prescribed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

A video of Nimbu Paani being made in unhygienic conditions at the Kurla Station in Mumbai goes viral. In the video, a worker can be seen stirring the juice with his bare hands. The stall has now been sealed & samples have been sent for further investigation

The commuter who shot the video tagged Central Railways (CR) asking them to intervene in the matter. Taking cognizance of the video, railway authorities sealed the food stall on Kurla station's platform 7-8 on Monday after collection samples. An official familiar with the matter said that samples taken from the food stall have been sent for bacteriological examination. Meanwhile, the stall's license holder has been summoned to appear before an inquiry committee today.

Responding to this lapse, CR officials said that health inspectors with the railways have been ordered to initiate audits to inspect the hygiene and quality of food and water being served at food stalls in railway stations across the city. It is appalling that where on the one hand, Indian Railways is pushing for hygienic food preparation by equipping its base kitchen in Mumbai with state-of-the-art technology, little or nothing is being done by the railways to ensure that food and beverages served at suburban local train stations are prepared in adherence to quality and hygiene standards.

Central Railway to start checking over 200 stalls in Mumbai division

Another senior official said a team, including medical officers, officials of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and commercial members of the Central Railway, will start intensive inspection of stalls located on railway stations in all five divisions, including Mumbai, Nagpur, Solapur, Pune and Bhusaval.

On Tuesday, the authorities sealed the stall, Chantoo Lal and Sons.

A DAY after the video of a man drawing water out of an overhead tank at a railway stall in Kurla station, to make lemon juice, went viral, the Central Railway has decided to inspect more than 200 stalls in the Mumbai division. It will later extend the drive to all five divisions of the Central Railway. The drive will start from March 27.

The authorities have sent samples of the water and the lemon juice to a laboratory to screen it for contamination. On Monday, the video of a man making lemon juice, allegedly with contaminated water at Kurla station, went viral.

On Tuesday, the authorities sealed the stall, Chantoo Lal and Sons. A senior official said samples of the lemon juice were collected and sent to a laboratory in Dadar for testing.

Sunil Udasi, chief public relations officer, Central Railway, said, “Two samples of the lemon juice have been sent to National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL). We have also initiated a special drive to check the quality of food and beverages sold at stalls in railway stations. A report from the lab is expected in four to five days, and we will take action accordingly.”

Another senior official said a team, including medical officers, officials of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and commercial members of the Central Railway, will start intensive inspection of stalls located on railway stations in all five divisions, including Mumbai, Nagpur, Solapur, Pune and Bhusaval.

Sources from Central Railway said there were more than 240 stalls in Mumbai division. According to a letter issued by the Central Railway, “Inspection team will check hygiene, FSSAI certification, pest control, potable water used for making food, waste management and raw materials used for making the food.” Sources added that the vendor owned three stalls at Kurla station and the third generation of the family was running the stall.

Subhash Gupta, president, Rail Yatri Parishad, said, “Kurla station does not have a water vending machine. The railways should install one, so that people can drink clean water. Many stations under Central Railway don’t have drinking water forcing passengers to depend on stalls.”

FSSAI Directs Food Commissioners to Prevent Use of Banned Substances for Artificial Ripening of Fruits

The FSSAI -Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has directed the food safety commissioners in all States as well as Union Territories to take on “effective surveillance and enforcement activities” to stop the use of prohibited substances like calcium carbide or acetylene gas for unnatural/artificial ripening of fruits.

The regulator told that artificial ripening of fruits with the use of prohibited substances poses serious risk to the health of customers. Keeping in mind the extensive use of banned calcium carbide & non-availability of substitute ripening agent, the FSSAI had allowed the use of ethylene gas for maturing of fruits in the year 2016.

In an order, the food safety regulator said, “Despite ban on sale of artificially ripened fruits with the use of calcium carbide, the prevalence of such ripened fruits in the marketplace is a serious reason for concern and should be tackled effectively”.

It further said, “Commissioners of Food Safety of all the States as well as Union Territories are hereby ordered to start effective inspection and enforcement activities to exclude any possibility of ripening of fruits with the aid of detrimental and banned substances acetylene gas or calcium carbide. They are also recommended to do similar exercise for vegetables to verify the level of pesticides”.

It has also urged the commissioners to conduct awareness programmes at market level targeted at vendors & food business operators. It also suggested use of electronic and print media to teach customers and food businesses regarding this issue.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has fixed a maximum permissible limit for ethylene use and specified a standard operating process.