800 kg of unhygienic food seized in Chennai

Raids conducted at shops, hotels at Broadway bus stand

Following complaints of unwholesome food, a team of officials from the Tamil Nadu Food Safety Department seized about 800 kg of unhygienic food items during raids conducted on shops and small hotels at the Broadway bus stand on Friday.

The department had recently launched a helpline number, 9444042322, to which city residents can register their complaints through Whatsapp. The officials also pasted posters displaying the Whatsapp number at shops to enable customers to register their complaints.

“We received about 500 complaints from across the State in the past two months through the helpline. In Chennai, nearly 85 complaints were received so far,” said R. Kathiravan, Designated Officer, Food Safety Department, Chennai.

On Saturday, a team of 10 officials inspected 37 shops and small hotels at the Broadway bus stand. The team checked for unhygienic food and products without proper labels.

“We found that 32 shops were selling unwholesome and unhygienic food. About 800 kg of food, including those with artificial synthetic food colour, were seized from the shops. Civil cases have been filed against the shops,” Mr. Kathiravan said.