Days after a passenger complained of worms in food served on an IndiGo flight, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) issued a show-cause notice to the airline regarding food safety.
The incident reportedly occurred on flight 6E 6107 from Delhi to Mumbai on December 29. IndiGo confirmed receipt of the show cause notice and stated that a response will be provided as per protocol.
What happened?
The startling allegation of unsafe food was spread by Khushboo Gupta, a passenger who had boarded the Delhi-Mumbai flight on December 29.
She was served a sandwich by the airline on the flight that day. As soon as she puts the sandwich in her mouth, she noticed a worm crawling inside. She immediately shared a video of it on her social media handle and made a complaint.
She added that she does not require any compensation or refund, adding “just an assurance that the health and safety of passengers should be your highest priority.”
IndiGo apologized to her and said it was thoroughly investigating the incident.
Concerns for Public Health
He wrote a large caption on how such inardvertence of the country’s largest airline service could cause so many passengers to suffer health loss.
She sought answers from the airline about the deplorable state of food quality and what kind of training the staff receive, as they lack proper etiquette and responsibility.
“Despite knowing the quality of sandwiches was not good… the flight attendant continued to serve sandwiches to other passengers”, Gupta said on Instagram.
According to her social handle, Khushbu Gupta is a dietician and a clinical consultant, who is also quite popular on social media platforms. Dissatisfaction with Indigo Airline’s flight services has spread on social media as soon as this incident came to light.
“I will Lodge an official complain via email soon. But as a Public Health professional I want to know despite of knowing the quality of Sandwich was not good..There were kids, elderly and other passengers…. What if any one catches infection”. She added.
Notice from FSSAI
Gupta tagged FSSAI, the Goverment regulatory body of India for food safety ,in the post. The post also went viral as it was shared by many users. As soon as it came to the notice of FSSAI, it sent a notice to IndiGo Airline for serving unsafe food to a passengers. The airline has been given seven days to respond to the notice.
On January 2, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) asked the airline to show cause why its license should not be considered for suspension or cancellation and action be initiated as per the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act for serving unsafe food to a passenger on the flight.
As per Section 3 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, ‘unsafe food’ means “an article of food the nature, substance or quality of which is affected in such a way as to render it injurious to health.” The notice added.
How does the Airline respond?
On Wednesday, An indiGo spokesperson said that it had received the show cause notice and would respond as per protocol.
He added that the matter is currently being thoroughly investigated, and that we are working closely with our caterer to ensure that appropriate corrective action is taken.
“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience to passengers…We would like to emphasize our unwavering commitment to maintaining the highest standards of food and beverage service on board. Following an investigation, our crew has immediately stopped serving the particular sandwich in question,” the airline said.
