Hyderabad cloud kitchen EatClub loses license over food safety violations

The Telangana food safety department suspended the central kitchen license of EatClub Brands Private Limited, the cloud-kitchen operator behind Box8 and Mojo Pizza, at its Ghatkesar facility in Medchal Malkajgiri district on August 1, 2026, citing violations of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

The inspection, carried out by officials from the Commissioner of Food Safety, Telangana (whose office posts enforcement updates at @cfs_telangana on X), found the kitchen supplying food to multiple brand outlets across Hyderabad in conditions that regulators say fall well short of FSSAI-mandated standards. Food articles found in violation were seized on the spot, and the department says further action under the FSS Act, 2006 is underway.

What the inspection found

The list of violations recorded at the Ghatkesar kitchen is long and covers several distinct categories of failure.

Pest infestation was the most visible problem. Inspectors found cockroaches, houseflies and rodents on the premises, which under FSSAI's Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011 constitutes a direct threat to food safety and is grounds for immediate suspension.

Raw meat, eggs, and vegetarian products were stored together without proper segregation. Cross-contamination between raw animal products and ready-to-eat or vegetarian food is a documented route for bacterial spread, including Salmonella and E. coli. For consumers who order from Box8 or Mojo Pizza expecting vegetarian food to be handled separately, this is a concrete concern, not a procedural technicality.

Workers were observed handling food with bare hands, and the overall food preparation environment was described by officials as unhygienic. Temperature-controlled transportation of finished food was also found to be inadequate, meaning food leaving the kitchen may not have been kept at safe holding temperatures during delivery.

Two findings stand out as particularly unusual. First, synthetic food colours were found on the premises. FSSAI permits a narrow list of synthetic colours in specific food categories under the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011, but their presence in a central kitchen without clear documentation of permitted use raises questions about which products they were intended for. Second, sugar on the premises was labelled as 'Pharmaceutical Grade'. Pharmaceutical-grade ingredients are manufactured to different purity and processing standards than food-grade equivalents, and their use in food production without proper food-grade certification falls outside normal FSSAI compliance. The department flagged this as a concern over intended use, though it has not yet publicly stated what the sugar was being used for.

Inspectors also recorded discrepancies in the kitchen's licensing categories and found that food safety records were not being maintained adequately. Proper record-keeping is a basic requirement under FSSAI regulations and is what allows traceability when something goes wrong.

Why this matters for consumers ordering from cloud kitchens

EatClub Brands operates Box8 and Mojo Pizza as delivery-only brands. Consumers ordering from these labels on Swiggy or Zomato have no way to physically inspect the kitchen producing their food. The entire safety assurance rests on FSSAI licensing, periodic inspections, and the operator's own internal standards.

The Ghatkesar kitchen is described as a central kitchen, meaning it likely produces food or semi-prepared components at scale and distributes them to multiple fulfilment points. A single central kitchen with pest infestation and improper storage practices can affect food quality across many delivery orders simultaneously, which is a structural risk specific to the hub-and-spoke model that cloud kitchen brands rely on.

This is also not the first time a large cloud kitchen operation in India has faced regulatory action. FSSAI has been increasing inspection frequency for food business operators in the delivery segment, though the regulator has not published a consolidated enforcement calendar for 2026 as of this writing.

EatClub Brands has not issued a public statement in response to the suspension. It is not known whether the company has filed for a hearing to contest the suspension or whether operations at the Ghatkesar facility have been fully halted.

What to do if you order from Box8 or Mojo Pizza

The license suspension applies to the Ghatkesar central kitchen. Whether individual outlet licenses or other production facilities operated by EatClub Brands are affected is not confirmed in the department's public communication. Consumers in Hyderabad ordering from Box8 or Mojo Pizza should check whether the specific outlet fulfilling their order is listed as operating from Ghatkesar.

On delivery apps, the restaurant address is usually visible before checkout. If the listed address is in Ghatkesar or Medchal Malkajgiri, that outlet is likely sourcing from the suspended kitchen.

More broadly, the violations found here, including pest infestation, bare-hand food handling, and improper raw meat storage, are not detectable from a delivered meal. They are exactly the kind of risks that FSSAI inspections are meant to catch before food reaches consumers. Checking whether a cloud kitchen brand's FSSAI license is current and in good standing is possible through the FSSAI FoSCoS portal, where license status can be searched by business name or license number.

For consumers who prioritise clean-label or additive-free food, the presence of synthetic food colours at the facility is a separate flag. Neither Box8 nor Mojo Pizza markets itself as additive-free, but the lack of transparency about which colours were present and in which products means there is currently no way to assess the extent of their use.