KHRA unwilling to obey food safety norms, HC told

The state government has submitted before the Kerala High Court that the Kerala Hotel and Restaurants Association who approached the court wish to conduct their business without the legal intervention of any authority and according to their whims and fancies.
The Food Safety Joint-Commissioner (Administrative and Legal) K Anil Kumar said that the KHRA members are unwilling to obey laws and wish for a lawless situation and it should not be allowed by the court.
The state filed the statement on a petition by KHRA challenging the conditions in the Food Safety and Standards Act.
The Joint-Commissioner said that the measures were initiated in the wake of the incident wherein a person died because of the food poison caused by stale shawarma.
 He said that the condition of many hotels, where raids were conducted, was highly pathetic and such hotels were served notices to close down till steps are taken to ensure improved hygienic conditions. The state also produced the video clippings of the hotels functioning in unhygienic manner.  Food Safety Standards Act was brought in at the request of the traders who wanted to replace the previous PFA Act. Hundreds of traders were sent to jail for violations of the provisions of the PFA Act.  To avoid such a situation, the new FSS Act has been brought in. After the shawarma incident, strict guidelines were issued to maintain the hygienic standard.