FSSAI Crackdown: 4 Food Units Shut, 13 Licences Suspended in Nizamabad for Safety Violations

The Telangana Standards Authority for Food and Essential Drugs (TG SAFE) shut four food establishments and suspended the FSSAI licences of 13 others in Nizamabad district on November 3, 2026, following a coordinated enforcement drive under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

Fourteen enforcement teams, each comprising Food Safety Officers and police personnel, fanned out across Nizamabad to inspect 28 establishments: spice manufacturers, packaged drinking water units, sweet shops, bakeries, and restaurants. By the end of the day, officials had collected 26 food samples on suspicion of adulteration and seized or discarded 9,645 kg of food articles valued at Rs 17.28 lakh. Show-cause notices went to a further 12 establishments, with penalties to follow based on inspection findings.

What the inspectors actually found

The violations documented by TG SAFE cover almost every category of food safety failure that FSSAI regulations address.

On the pest and hygiene front: cockroach and housefly infestations, rat droppings, and pest-contaminated raw materials were found at multiple sites. Stagnant water and damaged flooring created conditions where contamination spreads fast. Exhaust systems were described as greasy, a fire and contamination risk in any commercial kitchen.

Food storage was equally poor. Refrigerators held improperly stored and unlabelled prepared and semi-prepared food. Spoiled vegetables and expired products were still on premises, meaning they could have reached customers. Some units were using newspapers to cover food articles, a practice that introduces ink chemicals and particulate matter directly onto food surfaces.

Food handlers at several establishments were working without hairnets or gloves, a basic personal hygiene requirement under FSSAI's Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011. Mandatory records, including pest control logs and health certificates for food handlers, were missing.

The four units ordered to close permanently for operating without any valid FSSAI licence were Maharaja Sweet and Bakes (Nizamabad), Panchavati Sweets (Nizamabad), Shiva Shakti Ice Cream (Dubba), and Sagar Bakery (Autonagar). Running a food business without an FSSAI licence is an offence under Section 63 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and can attract imprisonment of up to six months alongside financial penalties.

The 13 establishments whose licences were suspended and told to stop operations immediately are: L.P. Products, Zunaira Family Restaurant, Chappan Bhog Sweets, Hotel Qureshiya, Water Solution Company, Janatha Traders, Ira Foods and Beverages, Sukhjith Starch Mills, Sri Ayyappa Traders, Radhe Mithai Watika, Shree Radhe Enterprises, Mogh Foods Private Limited, and Quality Sweets and Chikki (KK Sweets).

Why this matters beyond Nizamabad

This is the third major TG SAFE enforcement action in the Nizamabad-Medak-Kamareddy belt reported in recent months. An earlier drive in the same region suspended nine restaurant licences, and a separate Hyderabad action saw eight restaurants lose licences. The pattern points to a sustained enforcement posture from TG SAFE rather than a one-off raid.

For consumers, the category mix matters. This was not just restaurants. Spice manufacturers, packaged drinking water units, and sweet shops were all in scope. Spices are a high-adulteration-risk category: FSSAI's own survey data from 2023 found that chilli powder and turmeric are among the most frequently adulterated products in India. Packaged drinking water is regulated under IS 14543 and FSSAI's own standards, and an unlicensed or poorly maintained water unit can introduce microbial contamination that is invisible to the buyer.

The 26 samples collected for adulteration testing will go to FSSAI-accredited laboratories. Results are typically not made public in real time, and TG SAFE has not announced a timeline for releasing them. Until those results are published, the actual adulteration picture from this drive remains incomplete.

Sweet shops and bakeries carry particular risk during the festive season, when production volumes spike and corners get cut. Nizamabad's Chappan Bhog Sweets, Radhe Mithai Watika, Quality Sweets and Chikki, and Panchavati Sweets were all caught in this action, which took place just days after Diwali.

What buyers and home cooks should do

FSSAI licence status is publicly verifiable. The FSSAI FoSCoS portal lets anyone search a business by name or licence number to confirm whether a licence is active, suspended, or cancelled. If a sweet shop or water supplier cannot show you a current FSSAI licence certificate displayed at the premises (a legal requirement), that is a reason to walk away.

For packaged products, check the FSSAI licence number printed on the label and cross-reference it on FoSCoS. An unlicensed manufacturer can still print a fake number, but the portal will flag a mismatch.

At restaurants and sweet shops, the hygiene signals the inspectors flagged are visible to any customer: uncovered food on display, staff without hairnets, flies around the preparation area, and refrigerators with unlabelled containers. None of these require a laboratory to spot.

For spices specifically, buying from brands that publish third-party lab test certificates, or from FSSAI-licensed manufacturers with a traceable supply chain, reduces adulteration risk. Whole spices ground at home carry lower adulteration risk than pre-ground powders, where fillers and synthetic colours are harder to detect without testing.

TG SAFE has said further action, including penalties, will follow based on inspection findings. The adulteration test results for the 26 samples collected will determine whether criminal proceedings are initiated against any of the units.