Madurai: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has warned of serious consequences if eateries do not take corrective measures in maintaining hygiene and cleanliness. Officials from the FSSAI have embarked on a crackdown against eateries in the city for the past few days and say that there are several violations by the eateries.
The team, led by designed officer for food safety, Madurai district Dr M Somasundaram have been checking the eateries for the last three days. “The hotels, which are not maintaining cleanliness are being given stringent warning. Those with serious deviations will face the consequence,” Somasundaram warned.
The officials are checking areas, one after the other. Checks have already been conducted at Arappalayam and Mattuthavani bus terminals, which witness large crowds. Most of the customers in these places are floating population.
“The hotels we checked had cleanliness issues. Some of the hotels had stored stale meat and left-over cooked food items. While the samples have been lifted, action would follow soon,” Somasundaram said.
Other disturbing issue found with the hotels in the city is the generous use of banned additives. While the hotels and eateries are allowed to use only certain colours and additives permitted by FSSAI, some of the roadside eateries and restaurants at Mattuthavani had violated the rule.
Many might have developed health complications after having food in hotels in the city, but the complaints they receive is only a fraction. The problem is people do not know their rights and the complaint mechanism. Serious action would be taken if there are complaints against eateries, Somasundaram added.
A source from the department said that many people are carried away by the brand name of an eatery. When they conducted an inspection few months ago, they found leftover rice refrigerated at a prominent eatery at Mattuthavani which was to be used for fast food the next day.
Only recently, a team of food safety officials unearthed expired food items and stale meat stored in a prominent resort in Kodaikanal. The inspection was conducted based on a complaint from a Kerala family, which fell ill after consuming food in the resort.
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