The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) said on Wednesday that it has issued notices to two hotels in New Delhi’s Aerocity, Andaz Delhi and JW Marriott, after inspections at the five-star properties uncovered what the regulator described as serious food safety violations. These included seizure of 87 kg of sweets that were past their expiry date at Andaz, and pest infestations at the JW Marriott property.
At Andaz Delhi by Hyatt, 87 kg of expired sweets were found; at JW Marriott in Aerocity, hygiene standards were severely compromised across the property, FSSAI said.
It added that further action would follow based on the hotel’s compliance and the analysis of those samples. The regulator did not specify the dates on which the inspections were carried out. Bread packets bearing expired stickers were also recovered, and expired cake bases, flies and cockroaches were found in the pastry section, it added. The FSSAI also shared details of an inspection at JW Marriott in Aerocity (operated under Aria Hotels and Consultancy Services), in which the hotel was found conducting retail operations under the JW Marriott brand without the necessary licence. Hygiene and sanitation standards were severely compromised across the property, it added. Officials documented active infestations of cockroaches and fruit flies, dirty food-contact surfaces, and unwashed kitchen utensils. The inspection also highlighted hazards such as spoiled ingredients, including fungal-affected apples and rotten tomatoes. Food was routinely left uncovered or stored in damaged containers; staff also failed to properly segregate vegetarian and non-vegetarian products, mismanaged storage temperatures, and neglected required food identification labels, creating substantial cross-contamination risks, as per the inspection.
At Andaz Delhi by Hyatt (operated by a firm named Juniper Hotels), around 87 kg of expired sweets were found in the confectionery area and destroyed on the spot, the FSSAI said.
Regulatory and surveillance samples were collected during the inspections, the authority said in communication via its official social media handles. Deficiencies were recorded in the segregation of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food in the kitchen, with cutting boards used for both categories kept in the same water container, it further said. Drinking water supplies contained visible particulate matter, highlighting inadequate pest control protocols and poor general maintenance of the food prep areas, it further said.
