FDA issues stop work notice to Burn-Bar & Kitchen in BKC

Mumbai: The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) on November 3 issued a stop work notice to The Burn-Bar & Kitchen at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) after it was found flouting major food and safety violation norms at the restaurant. This is the twentieth restaurant in the last two months where the FDA has taken action for violations of food safety norms.

According to the FDA officials, their team found close to seven violations that led to the notice being issued. “During our team’s visit, we found expired food products in the restaurant. We also found synthetic food colour, and there is a high chance that the colour was used for food preparation,” said Shailesh Adhao, FDA Joint Commissioner (Food). FDA said the restaurant had no proper segregation of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food, resulting in possible cross-contamination. “They also did not have water analysis reports from NABL-accredited laboratories. There were no medical fitness records of its employees either,” said Adhao.

However, the restaurant remained open even after the FDA issued a stop-work notice on Tuesday. Shubham Pandey, manager, Burn-Bar & Kitchen, said they have not received any FDA notice. “There was no FDA inspection and no stop work notice served to us,” Pandey said.

FDA said they would lodge an FIR against the restaurant for not complying with the order. “It has come to our notice that they have continued to serve customers after our stop work notice. We will file an FIR and proceed for suspending the license of the restaurant,” said Dr Sachin Jadhav, food safety inspector.

Earlier, the FDA had filed an FIR against Mumbai Darbar restaurant in Mahim for continuing work after being served a stop work notice. FDA had inspected Papa Pancho da Dhaba on August 16 after a bank executive, Anurag Singh, filed a police complaint when he found a rat in his dish at the restaurant on August 13. This led to the arrest of the restaurant’s manager and two cooks. The incident triggered concerns over Mumbai restaurants flouting food and drugs regulation which led the FDA to start a special drive to inspect Mumbai eateries.

In three months, the FDA has issued shut business notices to 20 restaurants. It has also given improvement notice to 137 of the 155 restaurants it inspected and collected a fine of ₹1.70 lakh. HT on October 17 reported on nine high-end restaurants in Mumbai, including Cou Cou by Oberoi, being shut down following a surprise raid in the first week of October. The other eight restaurants including- Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) in Vile Parle (W), Banana Leaf at Matunga, New York Burrito in Kandivali West, Hotel Highway Inn in Andheri East, Tasty Parota Corner -Dharavi, Madina Sharif Hotel in Mohammed Ali Rd, Mumbai Bites in Ghatkopar East, Circle Kitchen in Malad West and Rajlaxmi Restaurant in Kanjurmarg West.