Feb 26, 2018
Inter-district special squad closes down seven hotels
Thiruvananthapuram: Food safety department has initiated steps to ensure clean and safe food in hotels and restaurants in the capital ahead of Attukal pongala.
In a surprise inspection conducted on Sunday, an inter-district special squad served closure notice to seven hotels in areas where pilgrims will be offering pongala. This is in addition to the closure of four hotels in the area in the past week.
The surprise inspection conducted in areas such as Attukal, Manacaud, Kamaleswaram, Attakulangara, Kuriathy, Killippalam, PRS Bund Road and Thampanoor has found that several hotels were functioning in unhygienic conditions despite the department serving improving notices earlier.
The hotels, which were served closure notices include 24 Inn cafe, Cafe Anjanam, Pappa restaurant and coolbar, Green Café, and Magic Juice and Bites (all near KSRTC bus stand Thampanoor), Hotel Panchali at East Fort and Soorya Fast food at Killipalam.
Ten squads, consisting of food safety officials from Kottayam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta and Kollam districts and headed by food safety assistant commissioner of Kollam K Ajit Kumar and technical assistant G Gopakumar conducted inspections from Sunday morning. A total of 223 hotels, restaurants and food business units were inspected. Of these 75 were served improvement notices. A fine of Rs 1.76 lakh was slapped on 37 units.
Food safety commissioner Veena N Madhavan said that strict inspections will be conducted in view of pongala festival in the coming days too.
In a separate inspection, which is being conducted since Tuesday, Annapathi Chat Store in Fort, Devan Fresh Juice in Pazhavangadi, Hotel Aswathy near Attukal Temple and Krishna Deppam at Kalady were served closure notice for their failure to comply with food safety norms.
Food safety officials said that a slew of reasons ranging from presence of rodents and fungus-infested vegetables to use of banned artificial colours are reasons behind serving closure notice to various food business units. Food safety assistant commissioner A K Mini said that the department has deployed 6 squads, consisting of a total of 28 members, to conduct inspections across 31 wards in areas where pilgrims will be offering pongala. “These squads will function 24 hours during festival time. A 24-hour control room too has started functioning. Organizations and individuals engaged in ‘annadanam’ must register at the control room. We have also tested samples of water from Attukal area,” she said.
Last year, the registrations for annadanam had crossed 500. Food safety department is expecting more people to register this year.
The department is also keeping surveillance on ice candy manufacturers which are often found to have presence of banned colours and artificial sweeteners.
In case of complaints, food safety department can be contacted at 8943346198, 8943346525, 8943346582 and 7593873324. Also toll-free number 1800 425 1125 is available. Sources at the food safety department said that name and details of the complainant will be kept confidential.
Secunderabad Cantonment home to 500 eateries, but no food inspector
The Secunderabad Cantonment is considered one of the largest cantonments in the country in terms of population and area.
Cantonment has over five hundred eateries in the form of hotels, restaurants, tiffin centres, bakeries etc.
Hyderabad: The Secunderabad Cantonment is considered one of the largest cantonments in the country in terms of population and area. But it has no designated food safety section or even a food inspector to conduct regular inspections of the food and its quality.
There is no one to check the adulteration of milk, oil and food products or even the artificial ripening of fruits, all of which have a direct bearing on the health of citizens.
Cantonment has over five hundred eateries in the form of hotels, restaurants, tiffin centres, bakeries etc. Other than these there are several ‘curry points,’ milk booths, fruit shops and roadside ‘bandis’ selling fast food and snacks.
According to Food Safety and Standards regulations, there should be at least one food inspector for every 50,000 population in urban areas.
The Cantonment population is roughly 3 lakh, but it does not boast of a dedicated food inspector.
Former vice-president Jampana Pratap felt SCB top brass should focus on food safety measures now that the population is on the rise every year and so are the revenues in the form of different taxes.
“A separate wing has to be created and professionals who have the requisite training and certification have to be recruited if needed. The health of citizens should be of paramount importance,” he stressed.
At present if any complaints are received by the board, the health and sanitation wing swings into action and conducts inspections in hotels or eateries because of the lack of a dedicated wing.
Experts say fines can be imposed based on poor hygiene conditions because as per rules, the quality of food has to be checked by a food safety officer, who alome has the authority to take action.
Otherwise, officials’ arguments will not stand in a court of law. SCB sources said that one of the health department officials obtained the necessary certification, but food inspector designation was not given. A letter was written to Southern Command in Pune to give permission to SCB to use the staff member’s services as a food inspector, but no clearance was given. Meanwhile, CEO S.V.R.Chandrashekar said that he was not aware of any such development.
SCB vice-president J.Rama Krishna stated that a food safety wing ws the need of the hour. “We are working on cadre restructuring and part of this is appointing a licenced food inspector,” he said.
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