Hotel licence suspended

KOZHIKODE: The District Food Safety Commissionerate temporarily suspended the licence of a restaurant here when a youth took ill allegedly after eating shawarma from there. Adil Mohammed hailing from Chevayur in the city had eaten shawarma at the ‘Hot Buns’ restaurant on Friday before travelling to Changanassery to participate in a basketball tournament. However, on reaching Changanassery he was taken ill and admitted to a private hospital in a serious condition. Subsequently, the food safety officers conducted a raid at the hotel. But the Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi took out a protest march against the raids and prevented collection of food samples from the hotel.

“The food safety officers could not collect food samples from the restaurant. So, it cannot be ascertained whether shawarma is the cause of the youth’s illness. But, we found that the restaurant was preparing food in unhygienic conditions. So, the licence has been temporarily suspended as per Section 32 (2) of the Food Safety Act,” said A. Mohammed Rafi, the District Licensing Authority. Rafi said that the authorities had given sufficient warnings to the restaurant owner to improve its hygiene standards after a raid on September 9. A case has also been registered against the leaders of the protest march for obstructing the duty of public officials.