Watch your plate: Doctors warn against eating out

HYDERABAD: Next time you try a new restaurant, do check if they have a food license from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation(GHMC).

After a series of crackdown against restaurants revealed how they were dishing out unhealthy food, city doctors have warned of serious health concerns. In the past few months, authorities in the twin cities have sealed about 75 hotels and restaurants.

Warning foodies of serious health implications, both short term and long term, Dr P Avinash, a paediatrician who treats about 3-4 food poisoning cases a month said, "These foods primarily infect the stomach with bad bacteria and kill the good bacteria. The bad bacteria then spread to the other parts of the gut causing infections and allergic reactions."

Many street vendors reuse the same oil to cook snacks, eating such food can also cause cancer, say doctors. "The soot that results from the over burning of cooking oil is stuck to food and injecting it regularly might lead to various types of cancers," Dr K Sreekanth, consultant onco-surgeon with Yashoda hospital.

Many customers think a hotel with a good ambience is a safe place to eat. But M Devender, food inspector of Secunderabad Cantonment Board says, the major issues they come across are hygiene of the kitchens in the hotels. Even though the serving area is well maintained, the kitchen and the storage places fall below the prescribed standards, he said.

Eating food outside on regular basis is also harmful for your liver, says Dr Sanjoy Paul, a diebetologist with Apollo Sugar. "About 20 per cent of the patients that come to me have food poisoning. Most of it is caused by the nitrous compounds present in the foods. Apart from minor problems like nausea and vomiting, these compounds can also lead to liver damage and jaundice."

One best way to solve this problem is, GHMC should make it mandatory to post all the food establishments to post their business licenses and also food inspectors food safety checkups on the wall at the entrance.Lakshma Reddy

In a city with huge migrant and floating population, it seems almost impossible to discourage people from eating food in restaurants and street food carts and the increasing demand only shows that the business is going to thrive in the future.

However, the GHMC, with a severe staff crunch, is struggling to put a check on the malpractices followed at the ever-growing numbers of food centres in the city. Ravi Kiran, assistant commissioner, GHMC said, "There is a requirement of 26 food inspectors in the GHMC limits and we just have four. Even though we are doing our best, it is still not enough. We urge the public check for the GHMC license and avoid eating at places that lack permission."