The Uttar Pradesh Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA) has suspended operations at a railway base kitchen in Lucknow after inspections found shortcomings in hygiene, food storage, drinking-water testing, pest control and mandatory records across catering units in the state.
The inspections covered 41 railway catering units and two establishments supplying food to airlines. FSDA teams visited railway catering base kitchens and food storage premises in Lucknow, Saharanpur, Kanpur Nagar, Agra, Chandauli, Gorakhpur, Ghaziabad, Moradabad, Varanasi, Bareilly and Jhansi.
According to the FSDA, deficiencies were found at 30 units. These included missing drinking-water testing reports, employees’ health certificates, pest-control documentation, stock registers and food-grade certificates for packaging materials. Notices were issued to the affected units, directing them to rectify the shortcomings.
The Lucknow base kitchen was among the establishments where action was taken immediately. The FSDA also cancelled the food registration of an establishment in Saharanpur. In Kanpur Nagar, officials seized 978 kg of a food item that was stored without a label or information on its manufacturing and use-by dates.
The administration also collected samples of 26 food items and sent them to a laboratory for quality testing. The source report did not specify when the laboratory results would be released or identify the seized food item.
An FSDA official said the inspections revealed several operational concerns, including employees working without shoe covers and masks. Officials also found that required records and certificates were unavailable at some premises, while other units faced labelling problems.
The inspections extended beyond railway catering. FSDA teams checked units supplying food to airlines at Lucknow and Varanasi airports, placing the findings within a wider review of institutional food preparation and supply chains serving passengers in Uttar Pradesh.
The action highlights the compliance systems required behind prepared food sold through transport networks. Hygiene at the kitchen level is only one part of that system; water testing, employee health documentation, pest control, packaging certification, stock records and product labelling are also used to establish whether food can be traced and handled safely.
The affected units have been issued improvement notices and directed to correct the deficiencies. Further regulatory action will depend on compliance and, where applicable, the results of laboratory testing.
