KOCHI: The Food Safety Department has issued a notice to authorities of St. Teresa’s College here, asking them to close down the hostel canteen based on its findings that it had no requisite licence, besides failing to ensure the quality norms.
Officials said that an inspection held last month had found that the canteen was functioning without obtaining the licence of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The hostel authorities also failed to produce the medical fitness certificate of the canteen staff. They could not also submit documents proving the quality of water used in the canteen, they said. The action was taken based on a complaint received by the FSSAI in which it was alleged that there were at least three instances of food poisoning in the hostel mess over the past three months and that the food was being prepared under unhygienic conditions.
