MUMBAI: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cracked down on yet another club after initial five elite clubs and gymkhanas had their food license suspended. This time, severe hygiene violations were found at Otters Club on Carter Road in Bandra. There was also another Zepto warehouse which had its license suspended.At the upscale Otters, inspections showed broken tiles, blocked drains, malfunctioning refrigerator with volatile temperature fluctuations. It was noted that the flooring was unclean in certain areas and records of Total Polar Compounds (TPC) testing in edible oil were missing.Inspectors also discovered that the club’s restaurant was serving analogue paneer to its customers by using product named “regular paneer” supplied by Punjab Sind Dairy.Simultaneously, authorities clamped down on online delivery platform Zepto’s Chembur facility on the Eastern Express Highway. They found temperature control failures where meat items were stored; it was 9 degrees Celsius instead of the mandated 5 degrees or below, and frozen items sat at minus 11 degrees instead of the required minus 18 degrees or lower.The Chembur dark store also had greasy, slippery floors, accumulated black dust on exhaust fans, poor ventilation, and an overall lack of cleaning schedules that fostered conditions for cockroaches and pests. Four other food businesses had their license suspended in the city. One was in Dahisar, where according to FDA officials, Daily Fresh Bakers and Cakes in Dahisar had been preparing cakes directly on unclean kitchen floors with active cockroach and ant infestations.Similarly, Prince of Wales Restaurant in Khar faced suspension over poor temperature controls, lack of pest control measures, and a lack of proper cleaning of equipment. Raj Oil Trading in Vile Parle had rat-bite marks on its oil packets and foul odours from poorly maintained storage, while Cafe Sifarish in Andheri East was also shut down following lapses in hygiene.
