The food industry has extended its support towards the ongoing drive being undertaken by the city Corporation. Even while endorsing periodic inspections, the industry is concerned over the detrimental effects that could befall them through frequent negative publicity.
Kerala Hotels and Restaurants Association district secretary B. Vijayakumar viewed inspections as a necessity to ensure that all eateries upheld standards and worked to retain the faith of the clientèle. “We would not deny that certain restaurants have violated food safety norms. Erring outlets must be cautioned and even penalised,” he said.
He, however, questioned the manner in which the seizures of stale food were projected by the media. “As seen during the recent spate of inspections, the entire food industry tends to get stereotyped as outlets that serve rotten food. In reality, items that were unfit for consumption were often confiscated from very few eateries during raids. Sadly, the media often portrayed the industry as hell bent on raking in profits, even at the expense of the customers’ well-being,” Mr. Vijayakumar said. The practice of hiring workers on a short-term basis and the lack of permanent staff has posed problems for eateries in obtaining health cards.
Parallel inspection
The Commissionerate of Food Safety has also been undertaking parallel inspections of hotels and restaurants in the city. According to C.L. Dileep, Assistant Commissioner of Food Safety, Thiruvananthapuram, six restaurants and bakeries were recently served closure notices during surprise inspections that were conducted in 78 eateries at Kazhakuttam, Technopark, Ulloor, Kowdiar, Kuravankonam, and Thampanoor.
While 59 outlets were ordered to rectify inadequacies, 29 were slapped a fine of around ₹1 lakh. While many restaurants kept large quantities of food in cold storage, some failed to maintain date and time tags for such items. Kitchens were also found to be maintained in unhygienic conditions. Some eateries also stored milk packets beyond their use-by dates, apparently to prepare ‘Sharjah shakes’, Mr. Dileep said, adding the inspections will be intensified.
