May 5, 2021
News from Madurai to alert all FBOs: An eatery owner was held and cuffed for three months jail term and has been hit with Rs 1 lakh fine for operating the eatery without FSSAI’s mandatory license.
Back in March 2019 in Madurai, a team of food safety officials led by then designated food safety officer Dr. M. Somasundaram conducted a candid inspection in Ponnappar hotel in West Masi Street. The team found that the owner was operating his hotel without a license issued by the food safety department.
Based on his sanctioning, food safety officer P. Jothibasu filed a case in judicial magistrate II court. After the trial, Judge M. Padmanaban sentenced the eatery owner Karthikeyan, 40, to three months jail.
A designated food safety officer for Madurai district Dr. Jayarama Pandian, seems to have warned food business operators (FBOs) in Madurai to acquire a proper license or face strict action.
According to the sources from the food safety department, “There are an estimated of 75,000 FBOs in Madurai that are working. However, only a section has got a license so far. Many of them operate after getting a registration certificate, which costs only Rs. 100. Officials clarified that the certificate is only for FBOs, whose sales are less than Rs. 3,000 a day and only a negligible number come under this category”.It is mandatory for every business to get FSSAI license that are dealing in food materials. The FSSAI officials also informed that if an FBO obtains a license, they would then be able to track them and ensure that they are selling food products meeting the standards set by the FSSAI.