IIT food poisoning: Caterer,suppliers had no licence

“It will be the first such case of prosecution in Maharashtra under the ‘Food Safety and Standards Regulations,2011’,which came into effect from August 2011. The three parties were involved in the food business operation,so how can they operate without a valid licence? If it is proved that they were operating without a licence,then punishment includes imprisonment of up to six months and fine of up to Rs 5 lakh under Section 63 of the Act,” said FDA assistant commissioner (food) Suresh Deshmukh.

On September 25,students of hostels 12,13 and 14 were served Chinese food for dinner. Subsequently,around 500 of them reported sick,all with symptoms of similar illness.

Following the incident,the FDA on September 27 collected samples of noodles and ‘monosodium glutamate’ or ajinomoto (raw material) used in Chinese food preparation. Since the students were served noodles,the FDA was investigating whether the students consumed stale food which caused the reaction,or if the quality of the ingredients used were sub-standard. The FDA recently concluded that noodles was not the cause behind students falling ill and ajinomoto samples conformed to the standards. The FDA is now awaiting results from the water testing report.