Bengaluru Hotels Food Safety Drive Expired Rotten Food Seized

Karnataka’s food safety officials have seized nearly one tonne of expired or rotten food from 60 star hotels in Bengaluru during a three-day inspection drive that concluded on August 9.

Thirty teams of the Karnataka Food Safety and Drug Administration (KFSDA), during the inspection drive on 3- and 5-star hotels in Bengaluru Urban district, collected 77 food samples and forwarded them to the laboratories to assess their quality and compliance with food safety standards.

In one of the compliance checks, the team also served notice on a McDonald’s outlet on Brigade Road after it was found using the banned Magnesium Sulfite (MgSO3) to treat frying oil, Srinivas K, Commissioner, KFSDA, said. The matter will be examined under the prevailing food safety regulations and other applicable legal provisions, and necessary further action will be taken based on the findings, he added.

The samples collected from star hotels include chicken, meat, fish, bread, mayonnaise, cooking oil, fresh oil, curd, pulses, chickpeas, coriander, chutneys and marinated food products.

The officials seized 640kg of expired and improperly stored mutton, fish, and chicken; 276 kg of rotten vegetables; 45 litres of expired dairy products; 12kg of stale bakery products, including cakes; expired or mislabelled 67 kg of cereals and other food products; and 49 litres of used cooking oil.

“The teams noted various safety violations, mainly non-compliant labelling as per Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) regulations, misbranding, storage of expired food products, improper storage of meat, fish and poultry, unhygienic food-handling conditions, use of banned artificial colours and failure of prescribed food safety practices in the storage and handling of food products, fungal growth in vegetables, and improper segregation of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food products,” Srinivas said.

In certain instances, products with a declared shelf life of one year under the applicable requirements were found to have shelf-life declarations extending up to two years, and some products had been imported and subsequently repacked, Srinivas said.

As part of the drive, the officials have sealed Hotel Skyye and Pegs and Bottles on Church Street for allegedly storing expired food items. The seized food articles were subsequently disposed of in accordance with the applicable procedures.

Srinivas said that special inspections were also conducted at various international food business chains operating within the Greater Bengaluru Area (GBA), including KFC, McDonald’s and Subway, and samples of food products, including mayonnaise, chicken and bread, were collected and sent to food laboratories.

The food safety teams also inspected godowns and warehouses supplying food products to these establishments.