Central Railway has ordered a ban on sale of lemon and other syrup-based artifical juices across all zones on Wednesday. The ban came into the effect after a video of unhygenic preparation of lemon juice at a stall on platform 7/8 at Kurla station went viral a few days back. The video, apparently recorded by a commuter, purportedly showed a man using water from the tank placed over a food stall at the railway station in Mumbai for preparing lime juice.

The person was also seen squeezing lemons in a drum and stirring the mixture with his bare hands.

In a circular issued on Wednesday, Shailendra Kumar, Principal Chief Commercial Manager at Central Railway stated, "Lemon and other synthetically flavoured juices made my mixing water would not be sold at the premises of Central railway."

Kumar further said that CR cannot deploy its staff on every station to monitor the juice-making process and use of water in it. Therefore, it has decided to stop the sale of these water-based lemon and synthetically-flavoured juices. However, CR clarified that the ban does not include fresh juices made by crushing fruits.

Earlier, the CR authorities on Monday sealed the food stall shown in the video. The stall's license holder was also called for an enquiry on Tuesday. The stall owner may face action, once the lab reports are in. The samples of the lemon juice have been sent for bacteriological examination. The Wadala railway cops have booked two men in the case.

There are 244 food stalls in the Mumbai division, which includes the suburban railway network.

The Central Railway network is spread over Maharashtra and also in some parts of Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.

 (With PTI inputs)