Jammu and Kashmir’s Food Commissioner has banned the sale and supply of McDowell’s packaged drinking water in the state after the detection of E. coli bacteria in it.
An official statement by the Commissioner described McDowell’s No.1 Platinum Packaged Drinking Water as “unsafe”.
“The public in general and the stakeholders in particular are informed through the medium of this notice to discontinue use or stop sale of above food products,” said the notice dated March 29.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), however, will not go for any action against McDowell’s packaged water at the national level as the issue was found in only a particular batch, its CEO Pawan Kumar Agarwal said.
“It doesn’t require action at the national level. They found E.coli in one particular lot or batch and they have issued an alert. It’s about a particular batch, not about an overall brand,” Agarwal told IANS.
“The batch may have been processed in a unit in J&K… that they have not been able to confirm to me. If the particular unit where the batch was processed is located in that particular state, it would be advisable for them to visit that and see the hygiene practices in that unit.”
The FSSAI chief also said that the state Food Commissioner has also given liberty to the company to get their products tested at a FSSAI notified lab and “it is for the company to that”.
