The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) issued a show cause notice to private airline IndiGo following a passenger’s claim of finding a live worm in its sandwich, Live Hindustan reported on Wednesday.

According to the notice, the food served to the passenger aboard an IndiGo flight on December 29, 2023, was “unsafe for human consumption.”

“ As per Section 3 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, “unsafe food” means an article of food whose nature, substance or quality is so affected as to render it injurious to health….by the article having been infected or infested with worms, weevils or insects,” the FSSAI, Northern Region noted.

IndiGo responded, saying that it is “in receipt of a show cause notice from FSSAI with regard to a food item served on flight 6E 6107 from Delhi to Mumbai” and that “it will be responding to the notice.”

The incident occurred on a Delhi-Mumbai IndiGo flight on December 29, 2023. During the journey, a passenger named Kushboo Gupta reported discovering live worms in a vegetarian sandwich. Gupta brought this to the attention of the cabin crew, urging them to inspect other sandwiches as well. However, she claimed that the cabin crew responded nonchalantly, treating the incident with apparent casualness.

In her post on social media, Gupta said, “Despite informing the airline staff about worms in the sandwich, the cabin crew continued to serve these sandwiches to other passengers.”

The parent company of the low-cost airline was given a seven-day deadline by FSSAI to respond to the issue. “You are directed to show cause within seven days….as to why not your license should be considered for suspension or cancellation and action be initiated against you as per the FSS Act, 2006 and rules and Regulations made under,” the FSSAI order stated.