The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration has suspended the food licences of five Domino’s Pizza outlets in Pune and Kolhapur after inspections found serious hygiene and food-safety deficiencies, including live cockroaches and remains of dead cockroaches in kitchen and food-storage areas.
The action covers outlets operated by Jubilant FoodWorks Limited at Warje, Hingne Khurd and Chakan in Pune district, and at Rajarampuri and Sambhajinagar, A Ward, in Kolhapur. Four licences were suspended on October 14, while the Chakan outlet’s licence was suspended with immediate effect on October 15, according to the FDA.
D. V. Bhogawade, Joint Commissioner (Food), Pune Division, said more than 50 Domino’s Pizza establishments across the division were inspected on October 13 and 14 as part of a special inspection drive. The inspections identified cockroach infestation in kitchens and food-storage areas, along with several other deficiencies linked to food handling and premises hygiene.
The FDA reported inadequate segregation of equipment used to handle vegetarian and non-vegetarian food, incomplete temperature records when food supplies were received, insufficient cleaning and disinfection, and unhygienic food storage. Inspectors also found foul odour coming from toilets in customer dining areas.
The department said food-delivery employees at the inspected establishments were not carrying the prescribed identification cards. The findings cover multiple operational areas, from kitchen sanitation and storage to record-keeping, customer-area maintenance and delivery operations.
Bhogawade said the five food licences were suspended with immediate effect after the detection of serious food-safety and hygiene deficiencies. The suspensions mean the affected establishments cannot operate under those licences while the regulatory action remains in force.
The inspection drive was conducted under the guidance of Maharashtra FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe as part of the administration’s wider campaign against unsafe food, adulteration and unhygienic conditions at food businesses. The campaign is being carried out under the “Safe Food, Safe Maharashtra” initiative.
The action places food-safety compliance at branded restaurant outlets under scrutiny as the FDA expands inspections across establishments serving food to city residents. The inspected locations include outlets in established urban areas such as Warje, Hingne Khurd and Rajarampuri, as well as Chakan, an important industrial and expanding urban area in Pune district.
The FDA said special inspection drives covering hotels, restaurants, prominent food retail chains and businesses involved in online food delivery would continue across the Pune division. Bhogawade said the department’s objective was to ensure that citizens received safe, hygienic and quality food.
The next steps will be determined through the FDA’s regulatory process for the five suspended outlets. The department said inspections across the Pune division would continue.
