FSSAI suspends licences of 15 food business operators in Kerala

Food safety watchdog FSSAI has suspended the licences of 15 food business operators in Kerala as they failed to comply with the requisite mandatory safety audits despite repeated reminders.

To strengthen the food safety surveillance system, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has directed carrying out of audits of Food Business Operators (FBOs) through private auditing agencies.

In a statement on Tuesday, the regulator said that even after repeated intimation and issuance of improvement notices twice, the 15 FBOs belonging to the Kerala region have not conducted any third-party food safety audits.

"Non-compliance of mandatory audits by above FBOs in high risk food business operations has been viewed seriously and their FSSAI licence has been suspended with effect from September 13 fore-noon by Central Designated Officer, Kerala & Lakshadweep in accordance with section 32 (2) of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 rules and regulations made thereunder," the statement said.

The FBOs are spread across Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Kottayam, Kannur, Malappuram, Wayanad and Palakkad.

These include Uday Samudra Leisure Beach Hotel & Spa, Thiruvananthapuram; Lite Bite Foods Pvt Ltd, Kannur; and Kovalam Resort Pvt Ltd, The Leela Kovalam, Thiruvananthapuram.

The Food Safety and Standards (Food Safety Auditing) Regulations, 2018, mandate annual third-party food safety audits of food businesses falling under six high risk categories by an FSSAI-recognised agency.