Bengaluru: Expired meat, milk, sauces and vegetables with fungal growth. These are some of the items Karnataka’s Food Safety and Drug Administration (FDA) department found Saturday in some of the biggest food logistics and storage companies as the government goes into overdrive to detect establishments serving or storing expired food.
“During the inspections conducted at Coldman Logistics Private Limited and Radhakrishna Foodland Limited, approximately 70 kg of soy sauce and various types of sauces nearing their expiry date (Near Expiry) were found, seized and confiscated,” said a statement by the Karnataka health department.
It added that 5 meat samples, 13 other food samples and around 10 litres of beverages, including strawberry-flavoured drinks were collected and sent for analysis.
Karnataka Health Minister U.T. Khader has ordered surprise inspections at reputed hotels and restaurants. These inspections have unearthed disturbing realities about the quality of food being stored and served by several such establishments.
As part of this special inspection drive, 30 teams comprising Designated Officers and Food Safety Officers were constituted and deployed to establishments that supply food material like meats and seafood to national and international hotels based in India’s IT capital.
On Friday, inspections revealed that several reputed five-star hotels and other high-end establishments were storing—and possibly serving—stale or expired food. These include most frequented hotels in the city, including several where political leaders hold meetings and conclaves.
The inspections, said the health department, led to the seizure of 76 kg of meat and 200 kg of vegetables from The Lalit Ashok, 15 kg of meat from Shangri-La and 72 kg of meat and sea food from Taj Yeshwantpur. Food inspectors also found 105 kg of expired food articles, including 50 kg of chicken, 25 kg of meat, 23 kg of fish and 7 kg of expired vegetables from The Radisson Blu (Atria).
The inspections come days after the Maharashtra FDA suspended food business licences of six restaurants and eateries, including a high-end establishment in South Mumbai. It found several of these high-end restaurants and clubs operating unhygienic kitchens and storing expired stock and misbranded products.
“It is a common belief among people that if it is a five-star hotel, then the quality of the products and cleanliness is top quality. So, we wanted to check if this is true or not,” Khader told reporters earlier Friday.
“During the special inspection drive, 26 three-star and five-star hotels in Bengaluru city were inspected. A total of 35 food samples were collected and sent to the Food Laboratory for analysis,” Karnataka health department said in a statement Friday.
It also said that several of these establishments exhibited unhygienic conditions in kitchens and food storage areas, meat products not labelled in accordance with FSSAI requirements and other violations. Additionally, most of these establishments were also storing expired milk, bakery, meat and seafood food products as well as vegetables. The department also noted a “failure to maintain separate storage for vegetarian and non-vegetarian food items”.
Khader added that high-end hotels should not be under the impression that the government does not inspect their food and beverages. “Small establishments will gain confidence when they see that even the big hotels not maintaining quality are being inspected, meaning we will not spare them either,” he added.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Also Read: Rats at K Rustom, fungus at Parsi Dairy—why many are cheering FDA shutdown of Mumbai icons