Food safety concerns are not always obvious from the food sitting on a shelf or being served at a hotel. Sometimes, it takes a laboratory test to flag that a product does not meet the required standards. That is what has happened with a sample of Nestle's Low Fat Dairy Whitener, collected from The LaLit, a 5-Star hotel in New Delhi. FSSAI has declared the sample "unsafe" and "substandard" and has directed that its sale be stopped.
Food Authrority Orders A Halt On Sales
According to FSSAI, the Food Analyst's report declared the sample both "substandard" and "unsafe". The regulator said this indicated that the product did not comply with requirements under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
Importantly, the information released by FSSAI does not specify in its public post what particular ingredient, contaminant, or parameter caused the sample to be classified as unsafe and substandard.
FSSAI said a copy of the laboratory analysis report was provided to the food business operator, Bharat Hotels Ltd., for reference and necessary action. A notice was also issued to the hotel regarding the non-compliant Nestle product.
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The hotel was given an opportunity to appeal against the Food Analyst's report within the prescribed period, as provided under the FSS Act, 2006. At the same time, FSSAI directed the food business operator to immediately prohibit the sale of the identified product.
Not The First Recent FSSAI Action Involving Nestle
The development comes a couple of weeks after FSSAI initiated legal action against Nestle India over three infant nutrition products. That action involved NAN Excella Pro Stage 1, Lactogen Pro 1 and a Follow-up Formula.
FSSAI had raised concerns over promotional claims made for NAN Excella Pro Stage 1 and Lactogen Pro 1. It also found a separate Follow-up Formula sample to be substandard for its Biotin content.
Three adjudication cases were filed against the company in that matter.