HYDERABAD: With the complaints against fast food joints rising, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has decided to take stringent action against such establishments by conducting special drives. Several fast food centres are operating out of the nooks and crannies of the city running for years.
However, few establishments located in areas such as Ameerpet, Dilsukhnagar, Secunderabad, Kukatpally and HiTec City, where there is a heavy footfall of students, are allegedly adding food colouring and other additives for flavour in items such as fried rice, noodles, Manchurian and rolls. These allegedly help improve the taste of the dish, ensuring that more customers return to get a bite of their food.
However, they cause digestion issues and acidity apart from exacerbating blood pressure and inflammation issues in consumers. After receiving multiple complaints about such issues, the GHMC instituted special teams to check for the quality of food being served, hygiene condition of the kitchen and the kinds of food additives being used to enhance the flavour. The samples collected will be sent to laboratories for further checks, officials said.
Speaking to Express, Gazetted Food Inspector Sudhershan Reddy mentioned that since many fast food centres were running their business in the evening hours unlike bakeries, restaurants and tiffin centres which operate throughout the day, food inspectors haven’t been able to crack down on such establishments. “From now, there will be special drives where a team of food inspectors will perform surprise inspections at fast food centres and check whether they are unsafe, sub-standard or misbranded and book the owners, apart from levying fines, for violating the norms set by the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006,” he said.
According to food safety officials, a team of 22 food inspectors would go for inspection daily at restaurants, food stalls, supermarkets and other such establishments. They would check the quality of food, water, hygiene condition, kitchen, drainage, licences, medical fitness certificate of the servers and others.
Food samples will be categorised as unsafe, substandard, and misbranded. If the food sample is unsafe, criminal cases will be booked and the establishment owners will be sent to jail. For substandard and misbranded food, a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh will be imposed.
Datapoints
300 cases booked against food establishments in 2022
35 establishments were sent to court under criminal charges
Recently, food safety officials collected 57 food samples
There are 22 food inspectors in GHMC to check food quality
Food samples categorised as unsafe, substandard & mis-branded
Rs 5 lakh
A fine of upto Rs 5 lakh will be imposed for serving substandard food