Karimnagar eateries flout hygiene norms, raids expose expired food, dirty kitchens

Repeated inspections by food safety officials in Karimnagar town have revealed persistent unhygienic practices across restaurants and sweet shops. Locals blame lax enforcement for the ongoing violations.

Karimnagar: Hotels, restaurants, sweet shops and other eateries in Karimnagar town continue to show scant regard for hygiene, ignoring basic norms and precautions in their preparation of food.

Excessive use of artificial food colours in dishes has been reported on several occasions. Residents say the lack of supervision and action against negligent eateries is the main reason why management fail to maintain standards.

Though food safety officials conduct occasional raids, they restrict themselves to issuing notices without initiating stringent measures. While eateries spend heavily on decorations to attract customers, their kitchens are often neglected, locals observed.

During recent inspections, unhygienic conditions were found in several restaurants. On August 29, raids were conducted at Darbar Bar and Restaurant and Nataraj Bar and Restaurant, both near the district bus stand. At Darbar, officials discovered the previous day’s mutton, corn and veg Manchurian being served, while the Nataraj kitchen was found filthy with a foul smell.

Earlier, on August 20, checks at Anil Sweets and Bakery, Anand Sweets and Maharaja Sweets led to the seizure and destruction of contaminated milk and sweets. Kitchens were unhygienic, with flies and mosquitoes hovering over milk used for preparation. Officials also found excessive use of artificial food colours.

This is not the first time that such practices have been exposed. Last year, in October, the food safety task force had inspected Maitri Hotel and Mithaiwala Sweet House, where 20 kg of meat products worth Rs. 25,000 were destroyed at Maitri, while expired food packets and other items worth Rs. 7,000 were seized from Mithaiwala. In May last year too, expired products worth Rs. 70,000 were seized at Swetha Hotel along with 20 to 25 varieties of cooked food items.