Food safety officials detected irregularities at 1,525 of the 1,730 food establishments inspected across West Bengal during a two-day inspection drive on Wednesday and Thursday, an official said on Friday.
Officials inspected 906 eateries on Wednesday and 824 on Thursday. The drive covered restaurants, sweet shops and food-processing units, with inspections focusing on food stocks, refrigeration systems, food safety and hygiene standards.
Nearly 13 restaurants were sealed, while the licences of five others were cancelled. Proceedings for punitive action against 17 additional establishments are also underway, officials said.
A total of 901 food samples were collected from different parts of the state for testing.
South 24 Parganas reported the highest number of violations, with 215 establishments found to have breached food safety norms. Most of these violations were reported in Diamond Harbour. Other districts with significant violations included North 24 Parganas, Purba Bardhaman and Kolkata, including the Park Street and Topsia areas.
Seven well-known restaurants in Kolkata’s Park Street area were also raided on Friday and checked for their food stocks and refrigeration systems.
Earlier today, the FSSAI ordered CG Foods India to stop manufacturing certain Wai Wai Bhujia products after inspectors found multiple food safety and regulatory violations.
As per the inspection, broken noodles collected from the factory’s floor were being repurposed into bhujia. The material, which was allegedly being used without heat treatment, raised food hygiene concerns.
The action specifically concerned Wai Wai brand Veg Bhujia Namkeen products rather than a blanket ban on all the other products of Wai Wai.
The regulator further said that the facility was also manufacturing Wai Wai Mama and Wai Wai Mama Punte bhujia varieties without the required licence.
Nearly 32,107.2 kg of stock from the facility, including loose broken noodles, was seized.
Nearly 1,925 boxes of expired finished products were also seized during the inspection.