Bengaluru rooftop lounge kitchen shut after rotten meat, expired dairy found

Food safety officials in Bengaluru shut the kitchen of a high-end rooftop lounge after finding unhygienic conditions, expired dairy products and rotten meat. Across 60 three- and five-star hotels, officials seized 132 kg of food and collected 77 samples for testing

Bengaluru: The kitchen of a high-end rooftop lounge was closed for allegedly being maintained in an unhygienic manner, officials said on Monday. Rotten chicken and beef, some of it with fungal growth, were also seized during an inspection conducted by the Food Safety and Drug Administration Department here, they said.

On Sunday, inspections were conducted at six high-end eateries in UB City and Brigade Road here as part of the department’s ongoing drive to verify compliance with the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011.

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During the drive, milk and curd packets that had expired 10 days earlier were also found at the upscale rooftop lounge in UB City. Its kitchen was subsequently closed for being maintained in an “unhygienic” manner, officials said.

According to the Food Safety and Drug Administration Department, an inspection at another high-end restaurant in UB City found 45 kg of rotten chicken and beef, 6 kg of vegetable cutlets and 15 litres of used cooking oil.

The food items, which were found to be unfit for consumption, were discarded or destroyed as per procedure. Other articles seized from other high-end eateries were 50 kg of duck meat, 5 kg of fish, 5 kg of green peas and 5 kg of mushrooms.

In total, 132 kg of food items were seized and disposed of during inspections at the high-end restaurants, officials added. The inspections were carried out from August 7 onwards as part of a three-day special food safety drive across all zones of Bengaluru Urban District and the Greater Bengaluru Area, covering three-star and five-star hotels, they said.

In a statement, the department said a total of 60 three-star and five-star hotels in Bengaluru Urban District were inspected during the operation, and 77 food samples were collected and forwarded to food laboratories for analysis.

“During the inspections, samples of various food items-chicken, meat, fish, bread, mayonnaise, cooking oil, fresh oil, curd, pulses, chickpeas/chana, coriander, chutneys and marinated food products, were collected from different establishments and sent to the food laboratories for analysis to assess their quality and compliance with food safety standards,” it said.

Various food safety violations were observed during the inspections, like non-compliant labelling under FSSAI regulations, misbranding, storage of expired food products, improper storage of meat, fish and poultry, unhygienic food-handling conditions, fungal growth in vegetables, and improper segregation of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food products, the department said.

In view of these violations, notices have been issued to the concerned hotels, and recommendations have been made for filing cases before the respective adjudicating officers for further action in accordance with the law, it said.

Special inspections were also conducted at various international food businesses operating within the GBA. During an inspection at a popular burger joint on Brigade Road, officials observed that magnesium sulphite (MgSOƒ) was allegedly being used in connection with the treatment or purification of used frying oil.

“Accordingly, a notice has been issued to the concerned food business operator in accordance with the applicable provisions. 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,” the department said.

The godowns and warehouses supplying food products to these establishments were also inspected, and food samples were collected for analysis. The Food Safety and Drug Administration Department will take strict legal action against hotels and food business operators found violating food safety regulations, it added.