Passenger finds metal scrubber piece in food on Guwahati-Okha Express; IRCTC penalises caterer

A passenger travelling on the Guwahati-Okha Dwarka Express allegedly found a piece of metal from a utensil-cleaning scrubber in his food, prompting the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to impose a penalty on the onboard catering service provider and remove the staff involved from duty.

The passenger, Amit Awasthi, shared videos of the incident on X, showing a silver-coloured metal fragment in his dal. He said he had already eaten half of the meal before noticing the object and expressed concern that he might have swallowed some of it.

In the footage, Awasthi said the catering staff had identified the fragment as a piece of the scrubber used to wash utensils. He also raised concerns about the quality and safety of food being served to passengers on trains.


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Railway catering staff says metal fragment came from utensil scrubber

In another video shared by the passenger, a member of the onboard catering staff can be heard apologising and explaining that the object may have come from a scrubber used to clean utensils.

The staff member offered to replace Awasthi's meal and refund the amount. However, the passenger declined both offers, saying he intended to lodge a complaint with the Railways.


The fragment appeared silver-coloured in the video. However, there was no independent confirmation of its exact material or how it entered the food.

IRCTC imposes penalty on caterer, removes staff from duty

Responding to the passenger's post, IRCTC said it had taken the incident seriously and imposed a substantial penalty on the service provider responsible for catering on the train.

The railway catering corporation also said the staff involved had been removed from duty, or de-rostered, and that the contractor had been issued a strict warning to prevent a recurrence.

IRCTC did not disclose the amount of the penalty imposed on the contractor.