Blade in meal: FSSAI issues notice to Air India's catering firm
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New Delhi: The Food Safety And Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) issued an ‘improvement notice’ to TajSATS’ after an Air India passenger reportedly discovered a blade-like metal object in the food served to him by the airline catering company.
Mathures Paul, a journalist, flying from Bengaluru to San Francisco aboard Air India AI 175 flight on June 9, 2024, found the object in the food and shared the experience on social media, NDTV reported.
Following the incident the food safety authority inspected TajSATS Bengaluru from where the food was supplied to the airline.
‘We have issued an improvement notice to TajSATS, following a detailed inspection at TajSATS Bengaluru,’ news agency PTI quoted FSSAI CEO Kamala Vardhana Rao as saying.
The metal object found in the food was later identified as an automatic vegetable cutter which was accidently placed inside a piece of vegetable.
Aiming at preventing such incidents, the FSSAI CEO asked the catering company to implement corrective measures including installing x-ray machines, and manual vegetable choppers in the kitchen within 15 days.
Air India told news agency ANI that the foreign object found in the food was a blade from its catering partner’s ‘vegetable processing machine’.
Responding to Mathures Paul's post, the airlines said: "Dear Mr. Paul, we are sorry to know about this. This does not represent the level of service we aim to provide to our passengers. Please DM us your booking details along with your seat number. We'll ensure this matter is promptly reviewed and addressed."