CHENNAI: Nineteen teams of Tamil Nadu Food Safety officials on Wednesday inspected 214 eateries across Chennai to check the use of harmful artificial colouring agents in food, especially while making dishes like gobi manchurian.
The inspection came in the wake of Karnataka government recently banning the use of certain artificial colouring agents, especially Rhodamine B, an industrial dye, in cotton candy and dishes like gob manchurian.
The officials said, in T Nagar they found artificial colours were mixed beyond permissible levels in chicken dishes and biryani. They seized around 80kg of stale chicken and 50kg of biryani mixed with artificial colours from a restaurant in T Nagar. The restaurant was shut down. Another restaurant in the same area was also shut down due to unhygienic conditions.
The officials also collected 25 samples from different places to send them to laboratories for testing.