FSSAI suspends Marche Retail's licence, orders SDP to stop ghee sales

New Delhi: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has suspended Marche Retail's licence for 30 days and ordered SDP Industries to halt the sale of its ghee, citing food safety violations.

According to an FSSAI notice, inspections at New Delhi-based Marche Retail found deficiencies related to sanitation, personal hygiene, food-handler training and record-keeping.

The regulator also flagged inadequate segregation of vegetarian and non-vegetarian foods, failure to maintain prescribed temperatures for temperature-sensitive products, and food-service operations without a licence.


In a social media post, the regulator said the unit received an overall compliance score of 37% during a follow-up inspection.

The company's licence has been suspended with immediate effect for 30 days, and it has been directed to cease food-business activities until the deficiencies are rectified and compliance is verified by the authorities.

Separately, FSSAI said samples of ghee manufactured by Daman-based SDP Industries, including variants sold under the 'Shraddha', 'Shree Saras' and 'Gokul' brands, were found non-compliant. Laboratory tests detected beta-sitosterol and non-conformity in fatty-acid composition, which the regulator said indicated the presence of foreign or vegetable fats.

A referral laboratory subsequently confirmed the non-conformity after the company appealed the initial findings.

FSSAI has directed SDP Industries to immediately stop the sale of all variants of ghee manufactured, stored or sold from its authorised premises, until further orders.