KMC scanner
Kolkata: Kolkata Municipal Corporation on Tuesday issued suspension notices to 40 establishments including several prominent restaurants and confectioneries in the city for alleged violation of food safety norms during a week-long inspection drive. KMC administrator and municipal commissioner Smita Pandey said civic food inspectors checked 592 restaurants, food joints and confectioneries between Sept 1 and Sept 7 as part of a food safety drive. During the drive, officials said they destroyed 1,224 kg of meat and fish recovered from some restaurants and wholesale fish markets after finding that they had been stored in violation of safety standards. Hotel and Restaurant Association of Eastern India (HREAI) president Sudesh Poddar said around 100 hotels and restaurants had been inspected by the food safety department.
Civic officials said the establishments will have to improve hygiene and food safety standards before applying for permission to reopen. “We are eager to give the errant food and confectionery joints, some of whom are both famous and popular, a chance to improve and continue with their business, especially on the eve of Bengal’s biggest festival, Durga Puja ,” Pandey said. The violations included poor hygiene, improper storage of raw materials such as meat and fish and failure to follow prescribed food safety norms, according to KMC officials. A KMC food inspector said improper storage of meat and fish was one of the major concerns. “We even found cockroaches stored alongside meat in a well-known Chinese restaurant in Chinatown,” the inspector said. “We urge our members to rectify the defects at the earliest,” Poddar said.
Among the establishments named by civic officials are specific outlets of popular Mughlai restaurants like Arsalan, Kareem’s, Nizam’s, Simla Biryani, Chinese restaurants Big Boss and Denzong Kitchen, and multicuisine restaurant Don Giovannis. Also on the list is a dark store of Zepto, the quick-commerce company that delivers groceries, fresh produce, household goods and other everyday essentials to customers. The owners have been given two weeks to address the violations listed by the food safety department.