Gurgaon: A surprise inspection by a municipal corporation health team on Wednesday uncovered serious hygiene violations at five prominent eateries in NIT Faridabad, including live insects, fungus-infested food and reuse of cooking oil. Officials involved in the crackdown alleged political pressure to stop the inspections.The raids covered Haldiram, Om Sweets, Babbal, RPS and Gulati, with inspectors finding live insects crawling inside vegetables at Babbal and fungus-infested bread stored in a container. The outlet owner left the premises after seeing the inspection team arrive.At Om Sweets, officials found cooking oil being reused, and workers were seen attempting to dispose of a large quantity of kachoris in a dustbin when the team reached the outlet. Similar violations involving oil reuse were reported at Haldiram, while RPS and Gulati were also inspected for hygiene lapses.Authorities imposed a cumulative fine of more than Rs 15 lakh on the five establishments, including Rs 6.5 lakh on Babbal, Rs 6 lakh on Om Sweets, Rs 2 lakh on Haldiram, Rs 50,000 on RPS and Rs 45,000 on Gulati. Officials said the drive was aimed at enforcing basic food hygiene standards across establishments and that even smaller eateries were required to maintain minimum standards of cleanliness and safe food handling.The raids have also highlighted a larger problem in the state’s food safety system: a shortage of Food Safety Officers (FSOs). The shortage has created a regulatory vacuum, with municipal bodies stepping in to conduct checks but then facing questions about their authority to inspect food establishments. The shortage has emerged as a major challenge for the state’s food safety machinery. Of the 45 sanctioned FSO posts in the state, 27 have been filled through deputation, but 11 officers are awaiting posting and another 11, who completed on-the-job training on Aug 19, are awaiting FSSAI certification before they can be formally notified. This effectively leaves only five officers currently handling field responsibilities, with postings in Hisar, Rewari, Jhajjar, Kurukshetra and Karnal.Speaking on facing pressure, an officer said, “When we go to conduct raids, we get a lot of calls asking us to stop the raid. What are we supposed to do — sit back and leave the public at risk? Should we wait for someone to fall seriously ill or die before action is taken?”The raids come against the backdrop of growing concerns over food hygiene in the region, including a recent incident at PAUL in Gurgaon where a customer allegedly found a live worm inside a sandwich, while food safety inspections and enforcement drives by regulators in different cities have brought renewed focus on the effectiveness of routine checks.
