The two restaurants which top Mumbai's culinary landscape- Bade Miya and Papa Päncho da Dhaba have recently reopened after an FDA (Food and Drug Administration) raid. Violations included the presence of cockroaches, rats, and maggots at Bade Miya. There were allegations against Papa Pancho Da Dhaba that the food served to a consumer had baby rats. "We got our licence renewed within five days, as it was in process only. The licence for the new restaurant was pending, as we just applied for it. Now we have fulfilled all the criteria related to hygiene, waste management, and others at the restaurant,” said Muhammed Ifthekar Shaikh, owner of Bade Miyan. The FDA issued a stop business notice for the Colaba branch, which has six outlets in the same area. Bademiyan has been in business for more than 75 years. Shaikh added, “We were closed for only two days, but people took photos of our outlet with closed shutters, which we open in the evening only." Talking about the complaint of rats and cockroaches, the owner said, "Rats and cockroaches are common to see on the road, and someone just out of nowhere complained about it. If it is on the road near an outlet, does it mean it came from our kitchen? However, we still worked on our hygiene issues, and now we are good to go."
FDA Joint Commissioner Shailesh Adhav said, "Bade Miya did not have a licence. We also found that they were following some of the regulations mandated by the FDA. However, the changes were made, and they made changes. We visited the place for verification and gave the green signal to start the operations. We issued the licence in a week or so." According to Adhav, the FDA has at least 80 to 90 critical parameters to evaluate food at restaurants. This also includes the well being of the staff as it could affect the customers,” Adhav said. Papa Pancho Da Dhaba was issued a stop business after the FDA received a complaint from a customer about finding rats in his food at the restaurant. The restaurant was closed on August 16 and reopened on October 23. The management of Papa Pancho’s was not available for comment. By initiating action against the big names of the business, FDA has sent a message that no matter what the legacy is, or how long you have been in the business, if regulations are violated, you are liable for action. In case you find anything wrong with your food, or that the restaurant is violating food safety norms, you can access the FDA helpline number 022-26592362/63/64, open between 9 am to 5 pm and complaints can be mailed at whogmp.mahafda@gmail.com.