Soumya MS, a techie in Kochi, likes to try out the fare dished out by various restaurants, both small and big. The other day, she and a few of her friends visited a restaurant in Aluva and ordered biryani. It sure looked piping hot and the aroma was alluring too. But as her friend dug out the masala, there popped up a cockroach!
She says, “Given that most us are ‘paying guests’ who stay away from our homes, we are forced to rely on restaurant food. As a result, someone or the other is always down with food poisoning.” A frequent victim is a friend from north Kerala who loves his chicken and beef. “Many hotels in the city have swank interiors but nobody knows what goes on in their kitchens,” she adds.
A recent drive by the Thrikkakara Municipality Health Department revealed that seven hotels in the city were functioning in unhygienic conditions. Meat, chicken and fish were cleaned in wash basins, it was found. They were let off with a warning.
Shibu KV, Assistant Commissioner of Food Security, Kochi, confirms that many a hotel takes care to project cleanliness in the reception and dining areas but the production area leaves much to be desired. “The way they operate within the food outlets is pathetic. It is the meat items that are the most risky as they do not store them under ideal temperature conditions. The place and the manner in which they are stored are also appalling. Shawarma is another food item that often causes food poisoning. Hence, it is best if meat-based food items are avoided to the extent possible.”
In most of the medium-range hotels, those in charge are not really trained in hotel management. Acute labour shortage means that anyone is drafted in as chef or waiter, with no awareness on food safety. Shibu says this negligent attitude can never be encouraged. “We have four squads in the city to scrutinise the menace, in addition to a Quick Response Team (QRT), which takes swift actions according to the complaints they receive on a daily basis,” he says.
He points out that a few hotels have an open cooking space, which the customers can see for themselves, and lauds it as a good practice. If other hotels follow suit, it would be a good step towards healthy eating, he says.
Echoing a similar opinion is Vinoy J, a young chef, who has worked in Kochi. “I remember how fish was often cleaned in wash basins, next to the cleaning brushes and soap water. The masala was also prepared in the same surroundings. Chemical ingredients and food colour were used. The oil used was not pure coconut oil, and they would re-use it for a few days. Beef is kept in the refrigerator for days on end.”
The responsibility of storing the leftover food ingredients is often left to the cleaning staff who do not have the required knowledge to preserve them in safe conditions.
“Many of the hotels go for the cheapest available ingredients, whether it is garlic, ginger or rice.”
A former waiter on condition of anonymity recalls, “A hotel where I used to work in used to source stale chicken and use it for making Shawarma, It was the same in case of milk, as it was later used while baking cakes. The oil too was reused multiple times.”
It is the student community that suffers the most. Kurian Jacob, a final year student at Sacred Heart College, eats out three times a day because there is no ‘mess’ in his college. “We are far from choosy and have food from any outlet. It is true that we are not that health conscious. Recently, my friend, who had a glass of innocuous-looking ginger lime from a small joint was affected by food poisoning for almost three days.”
He says it is not unusual to find human hair in the food served in some food joints. “While many of them start by saying that they want to serve only healthy food, commercial considerations get the better of them not long afterwards.”
The hotels that are caught red-handed are given strict warning and shut down for a few days, Shibu says. If they continue with the same practice, they will have to permanently down the shutters, according to him. He says that his team receives a minimum of 10 complaints every day from unhappy customers.
Something that people can do on their own is to identify the hotels that are trustworthy. “The most effective method is word of mouth, and when that comes from a person close to you, one can breathe a sigh of relief. Social media groups can also act as watchdogs,” says Shibu.
The tip that he gives the layman is to avoid eating out to the extent possible, and choose only those places that are within one’s vicinity and recommended by people who have tried it out.
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