VIJAYAWADA: Think twice before consuming food at night food courts as most of the eaterie stall owners are not maintaining a hygienic atmosphere, making them breeding ground for mosquitoes, besides serving poor quality food. Though food safety officials conducted surprise raids at the night food courts, the situation has again come to square one.
When Express visited the night food court near IGMC complex, several stray dogs were seen roaming freely near the eatery stalls causing much inconvenience to customers. “Water and food-borne diseases are common during monsoon due to consumption of unhygienic food. Some of the ailments include gastroenteritis (food poisoning), cholera, Hepatitis A jaundice, viral and fungal infections, typhoid etc. It is better not to consume food in an unhygienic atmosphere,” said Ch Hari Kumar, a general physician.
“There are hundreds of unlicensed hotels and roadside eateries in the city. We have no issues if action is taken against unhygeinic hotels, but what about lack of hygienic atmosphere at roadside eateries? The people run their business without permission. How can action be taken against them?” said a member of Vijayawada Hotels Association on condition of anonymity. He further added that people running hotels know that they have to maintain hygiene as their business depends on it, but there are a few who ignore it.
“The next time you witness unhygienic atmosphere in a hotel kitchen or even if the hotel premises is filthy, just click a photo and share it with Food Safety Department officials. The officials are planning to come up with measures to tackle food safety concerns, including hygiene,” assistant food safety controller N Purnachandra Rao told Express on Thursday.
Few months ago, a team of officials made roadside eateries in night food courts aware about the need to maintain hygiene and obtain licence from the food safety department. “As on date, none of the food stall owners have obtained a license from the department, violating the FSSAI guidelines. As per section 63 of FSSAI Act, `5 lakh will be imposed on the offender and will be awarded six months imprisonment,” added Rao.
Guidelines of FSSAI
Hotel kitchens should be free of rats, cockroaches, lizards, mosquitoes and other insects
Hotel cooks, waiters and other staff should maintain hygiene
Hotel staff should not smoke while working and undergo medical check-up once in six months
How to lodge a complaint?
Take a photo/video of unhygienic food or unhygienic kitchen /ambience.
Send the photo/video to whatsapp number 9440379755
Add address or location (can use GPS location too)