Maharashtra’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has suspended the food licences of four Mumbai businesses, among them Café Mondegar, the Colaba bar and restaurant that has drawn tourists and office crowds for decades. The other three are Maharashtra Biryani Centre in Kandivali East, Tribhuvan Dairy Farm in Ghatkopar West and Mahavir Cashew & Foods Pvt Ltd in Ghatkopar East, Scroll reported on September 16.
What inspectors found at Colaba
FDA officials inspected Café Mondegar on September 12, according to India TV. The list of lapses reads like a checklist of basic kitchen rules:
- Hot food held below 60°C, and cold storage running above 5°C. Bacteria multiply fastest between those two numbers.
- Frozen food thawed the wrong way, and cooked food cooled too slowly.
- Damaged, damp flooring and poor drainage near the food preparation area, which inspectors flagged as a cross-contamination risk.
- Equipment not cleaned and sanitised properly.
The regulator said all four businesses failed to meet the hygiene and sanitation standards for handling, preparing, storing and processing food, Business Today and Scroll reported. None of the reports carried a response from the four businesses, and none spelled out what each must fix before it can trade again.
A heritage name, a routine offence
The Mondegar name made the headlines, but the violations themselves are ordinary. Temperature control and drainage trip up small eateries across the city. By acting against a landmark, the FDA has shown restaurant owners that a famous name offers no protection from penalties.
The action also reached beyond Mumbai. Scroll reported licence suspensions for Hotel Malhar Wada in Kolhapur and Puramchand and Sons at Pune’s Market Yard, where inspectors reportedly found expired products. India TV reported that officials inspected 38 establishments in Mumbai between September 11 and 14 and acted against nine more businesses. Statewide, the regulator seized about 4,139 kg of milk products and sweets worth roughly Rs 15.5 lakh, per India TV and Business Today.
Why the pressure keeps rising
IAS officer Tukaram Mundhe took charge as FDA commissioner in May, and his office has run near-continuous drives against adulterated milk, analogue paneer, banned gutkha and dirty kitchens since, Business Today and Business Standard have reported.
On September 3 the FDA issued a standing order that fixes one inspection calendar for festivals across the whole year, ANI and India TV reported. Ganeshotsav, Navratri, Diwali, Eid, Christmas and New Year’s Eve sit in the top-risk group. Officials map vendors and line up lab capacity first, then run checks on roads and on festival days, and file cases where needed. Sweets, paneer, ghee, dry fruits, mutton and chicken get extra scrutiny because demand, and the temptation to cut corners, spikes around these dates.
What this means for Mumbai diners and shop owners
With Navratri and Diwali next on the calendar, expect inspectors at mithai shops, dairies and caterers over the coming weeks. For residents, a few habits help:
- Look for the FSSAI licence or registration number that food businesses must display, and note it before you order in bulk for a puja or a party.
- Buy khoya, paneer and sweets from shops with visible cold storage, and skip loose stock sitting out in the heat.
- Report a hygiene or adulteration problem through FSSAI’s Food Safety Connect app or the state FDA, with a photo and the bill.
Restaurant owners can read the Mondegar findings as a free audit. A thermometer check on the hot counter and the fridge takes a minute, and inspectors now test exactly that.
What to watch
Two things will show whether the drive has staying power: how quickly the suspended businesses win their licences back, and whether the FDA publishes the full list of outlets it acts against. So far the public learns names only when the department chooses to share them.
Sources: Scroll, India TV, Business Today, ANI
This report was written with AI assistance from the publicly reported sources linked here; each fact was cross-checked against at least two of them.