FSSAI orders Everest cumin powder recall, suspends Creative Bakers licence over hygiene lapses

Agriculture Markets, Prices & Trade

New Delhi: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has taken two separate enforcement actions involving food businesses, ordering the immediate recall of a batch of Everest pre-packed cumin powder after it was declared unsafe, while suspending the licence of Creative Bakers and Confectioners Pvt. Ltd. over serious hygiene and sanitation deficiencies. The actions were announced by FSSAI on October 4 as part of its ongoing regulatory enforcement to strengthen food safety compliance. In the first case, FSSAI directed Everest Food Products Pvt. Ltd. to immediately recall the affected batch of its pre-packed cumin powder from the market. The regulatory sample was collected from the premises of Riverside Resorts & Holiday Homes Pvt. Ltd. in Goa. Testing by the Food Analyst found residues of two pesticides — Azoxystrobin and Thiamethoxam — above the prescribed maximum limits, following which the sample was declared "unsafe" under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. Everest was given an opportunity to appeal against the initial findings. The sample was subsequently sent to a Referral Food Laboratory, which also confirmed the "unsafe" finding after detecting both pesticide residues above the permitted limits. FSSAI has ordered the entire affected batch, identified as Batch No....