Sarvi Food Court, 7 Sisters, Habitat Cafe, among Hyderabad eateries facing action after food safety inspection

Several well-known Hyderabad restaurants and cafes including Habitat Cafe, Sarvi Food Court, 7 Sisters Restaurant, Keshava Reddy Sweets, Seasons Xpress and All Seasons Restaurant, are facing action following a food safety inspection drive conducted by the Telangana Standards Authority for Food and Essential Drugs (TG SAFE) on Thursday, September 10.

Ten enforcement teams comprising Food Safety Officers and police personnel inspected 21 restaurants, bakeries, sweet shops, hotels and hostels during the drive and detected a range of food safety and hygiene violations at some of the establishments.

The violations included the use of spoiled or contaminated meat and vegetables, cockroach, housefly and rodent infestation, unhygienic premises, poor maintenance of records and unclean refrigerators. Officials also found inadequate segregation of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food, improper labelling, expired food articles, pest-infested food and poor personal hygiene among food handlers.

TG SAFE said 13 food samples were picked up on suspicion of adulteration, while spoiled and rotten vegetables and food articles found to be infested with insects or pests were discarded at the spot.

TG SAFE said improvement notices would be issued to 7 Sisters Restaurant, Habitat Cafe, The Nawab’s Restaurant, Keshava Reddy Sweets, Seasons Express Restaurant and All Seasons Restaurant in Banjara Hills, along with Sri Venkateshwara Lodge and Ashoka Hotel in Lakdikapool. The establishments will be re-inspected to verify whether the identified lapses have been rectified, with further action to follow based on compliance.

Meanwhile, Casa Laban, Sarvi Food Court and Dakini Sweet Treats in Banjara Hills and The Central Court Hotel in Lakdikapul will be issued show-cause notices. Further action would be initiated for imposing penalties based on the violations recorded during inspections.

In more serious cases, TG SAFE suspended the FSSAI licences of Lakshmi Sri Balaji Sweets and Bakery, Girl Friend Mandi, Kholani’s Fine Dine Restaurant and Kakatiya Tiffins Meals and Snacks over multiple hygiene lapses and directed them to immediately stop business operations in the interest of public health.

Additionally, during a State-wide inspection, TG SAFE has also suspended the FSSAI licences of M/s Mahendra Meals, Biryani and Curry Point in Station Ghanpur, Sri Balaji Magic Mithai in Baopet, Karimnagar, and M/s Cha Cha Family Dabha on NH-65 at Tupranpet in Choutuppal, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district. The action followed inspections of 46 food establishments, including restaurants, bakeries, dhabas, hotels, sweet shops and hostels by the authorities.