In continuation of the searches triggered by a death due to food poisoning, Food Safety officials asked four hotels in the city to close down and issued notices to 10 others on Wednesday.
According to Food Safety officials, Cochin Tourist Corporation, a hotel near South Railway Station; Rolex Hotel, near KSRTC stand; Taaza Taste at Janata Junction, Palarivattom and Paradise Hotel, at Edappally were found to be functioning in alarmingly unhygienic conditions and were asked to down shutters immediately.
The sewage from the toilets in these hotels was found to be leaking in some places and the seepage was flowing into the kitchen and store room. Stench from the kitchen was unbearable and waste was piled up inside the kitchen area, officials said.
The search against unhygienic hotels and restaurants will be extended to other parts of the district in the coming days, it is learnt.
A team of Food Safety officials is currently collecting evidence from Bangalore city, where Sachin Mathew Roy of Alappuzha district died after consuming shawarma from a hotel in Thiruvananthapuram.
