KFC outlet fined Rs 5,000 for ‘lack of cleanliness in kitchen’

Dehradun: Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) and the state food safety department, in a joint operation on Saturday, conducted a raid on an outlet of fast food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) situated at Rajpur Road and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 for “poor cleanliness in the kitchen and premises.” The food safety department has also collected food samples from the outlet which have been sent to a drug testing laboratory in Rudrapur.

Speaking to TOI, municipal health officer Dr RK Singh said that the raid was undertaken under the leadership of Ramesh Singh, food safety inspector, Dehradun. “The outlet was picked up on a random basis for inspection as part of a routine drive to ensure that cleanliness standards are being followed by eateries in the city. However, we found that the outlet wasn’t disposing food waste properly for which we imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on them,” he said.

Further course of action against the outlet will be determined on the basis of the sample test results, which are expected to come within two weeks, the official added.

“The outlet’s staff alleged that they get non-vegetarian food items delivered from New Delhi but failed to produce the pay receipts and the licence required for the same,” Dr Singh said.

When queried about the matter, an employee of the outlet who requested not to be identified denied that there were any cleanliness issues. “We often take our customers for a kitchen tour, so how can we let our kitchen remain dirty? It was just a miscommunication that happened. The issue was actually pertaining to the garbage disposal slip that is filled by the DMC’s garbage pick-up workers. Also, we will produce the documents related to the procurement of non-vegetarian food items on Monday. Some of the pay slips were not in our direct possession when the raid took place,” he said.

Last week, the food safety department had also filed a case against three prominent bakeries in the city, in the additional district magistrate court as the food samples collected from the bakeries were found to be substandard.

“We had also conducted raids on some milk dairies in Patel Nagar on Thursday and their food samples, too, were sent to the Rudrapur lab,” Ramesh Singh told TOI.