FSSAI Suspends Ganesh Products Licence After Unhygienic Paneer Raid
FSSAI has suspended Ganesh Products Private Limited's licence with immediate effect after an inspection uncovered severe hygiene and pest-control failures at its food manufacturing premises.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has suspended the licence of Ganesh Products Private Limited with immediate effect, citing serious and critical food safety violations detected during an inspection of its manufacturing premises.
The inspection found the overall cleaning and sanitation of the facility to be highly unsatisfactory. Dirt, soil and dark matter had accumulated across processing and storage areas, which also showed algae or fungal spots, cockroaches, rodents, flies and cobwebs. The finished-product storage area was inadequate, with improper stacking, products placed close to walls and insufficient ventilation.
Most production containers were rusting and in unhygienic condition, with unwanted material deposited on them. Expired and unlabelled food materials were stored alongside finished products, while waste, old stock, rejected lots and scrap had piled up in food-handling areas.
Significant pest infestation was reported in the finished-product and packaging-material storage areas. Dead mice, cockroaches, rodents and flies were observed, rodent-control boxes were absent and pest-control equipment was non-functional.
The premises also lacked testing records for control samples covering one year or the shelf life of products. Infrastructure deficiencies included flaking paint, dampness, broken floor tiles and damaged corners. Several food safety and quality-management records were missing, including mock recall records, a jewellery policy, proper handwashing facilities, consumer complaint records, internal training records, and internal and external audit records.
Authorities said the deficiencies had the potential to compromise food safety and public health, as food manufactured under such unsanitary conditions could be unsafe.
During the enforcement action, three paneer manufacturing units were found operational, but no food business operator, owner, manager or authorised representative was present. No FSSAI registration or licence certificate and no signboard were displayed.
About 7,600 kg of paneer was found stored in grossly unhygienic and insanitary conditions, including soiled containers and unclean platforms. The entire quantity was destroyed on the spot by the administration to prevent it from re-entering the food chain.
The inspection also detected milk powder, fabric whitener, an industrial-grade bleaching agent, refined palm oil, soybean and poster white colour at the premises. Another paneer manufacturing unit at Village Nai was subsequently inspected, and four paneer samples were collected from the four units, packed, sealed and labelled for laboratory analysis.
The FSSAI said the licence will remain suspended until further orders.