Rotten food & pests: 14 eateries lose licenses, 8 get notices in Hyderabad over food safety violations | Hyderabad News
Hyderabad: Food safety officials suspended the licences of 14 restaurants and issued show-cause notices to eight others during inspections across Hyderabad on Saturday. The outlets included Shah Ghouse Cafe at Shahalibanda, Mehfil Restaurant at Dilsukhnagar and Hotel Sri Raghavendra Udupi Veg at Santosh Nagar and Tolichowki. Officials also discarded 544 kg of spoiled vegetables, leftover food, expired items and pest-infested food.Inspections revealed unhygienic kitchens, greasy walls and chimneys, stagnant water and poor waste management at several outlets. At Shah Ghouse Cafe, officials found dough covered with paper, rotten fruits and expired items. Workers were also seen consuming gutka or pan masala.At Mehfil Restaurant in Dilsukhnagar, officials found open garbage bags, houseflies, damaged drainage lines and dirty refrigerators. They discarded 10 kg of used cooking oil. Hotel Sri Raghavendra Udupi Veg’s Santosh Nagar outlet had broken flooring, a severe cockroach infestation and overflowing dustbins emitting a foul smell. At its Tolichowki outlet, officials found rat droppings, open drains clogged with food waste and workers without hairnets or aprons. Several outlets lacked pest-control and health records.Show-cause notices were issued to eight establishments, including Taj Falaknuma Palace at Engine Bowli and Pista House Restaurant at Shahalibanda.At Taj Falaknuma Palace, used cooking oil recorded total polar compounds (TPC) of 27%, exceeding the permissible limit of 24%, a TGSAFE official said. Expired food items were also discarded, while utensils and equipment, including the pizza oven, were found stained and unclean.“Several food items were wrongly labelled and did not carry nutritional information or ingredient details. Frozen meat was marked ‘use by 90 days’ without any shelf-life study. The outlet was also preparing certain food items not permitted under its licence,” the official said.The outlets whose licences were suspended have been directed to stop operations immediately. Those issued show-cause notices may face further action, including penalties.Twenty-two teams from the enforcement wing of TGSAFE, comprising food safety officers and police personnel, inspected 22 restaurants and food outlets in the Golconda and Charminar zones on Saturday.
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