The locality of Koti of Hyderabad had multiple dairy stores that had hygiene violations. The task force teams from Telenagana’s Commissioner of Food Safety reveal jarring details of these stores.
The task force teams were in the process of inspecting many of Hyderabad’s cloud kitchens, restaurants, dairy stores, and other food-related establishments when they came to the conclusion that many of the dairy stores in Koti were not adhering to the required food safety practices.
Sri Murugan Ghee Stores
On August 3rd, the officials visited the renowned Sri Murugan Ghee Stores in Sultan Bazaar. The establishment has been well known for the manufacturing of ‘high quality’ ghee products for the last 70 years. However, the officials who visited the Sultan Bazaar branch of this prominent ghee store were greeted with broken windows in the packing areas and the store room and neither did they have the required insect-proof screen.
They were not able to provide the officials with the true copy of the store’s Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) License and the pest control records. Moreover, they did not have the Medical Fitness Certificates of the food handlers.
The food handlers were using gloves and hair caps and the food articles that were kept for sale on display had the required labels with both ‘preparation’ and ‘use by’ dates.
Mysore Ghee Stores
The next store that the officials visited is also located in Sultan Bazaar. In Mysore Ghee Stores, due to the lack of labels, 50 packets of 1 kilo of ghee were seized by the officials. Similar to the Sri Murugan Ghee Stores, the items kept on display were labelled correctly but items such as ghee, butter, and dry fruits did not have the FSSAI license number and the ‘use by’ dates, hence violating the regulations. They were not able to provide the officials with the Medical Fitness Certificates of the food handlers as well as the pest control records. They also did not have the true copy FSSAI License displayed in the shop, which is a requirement by the association.
Shree Mahalaxmi Kendra
The officials then visited the Kutbiguda branch of the Shree Mahalaxmi Kendra, a store known for their beverages and Indian sweets or mithai. While the packed items such as sweets and ghee were labelled correctly, the food handlers were found without wearing gloves and hair caps. “FSSAI License true copy was not displayed at the premises”, conveyed the Commissioner of Food Safety, Telangana through their official X (formerly known as Twitter) account. Just like the previous two stores, they were not able to provide the officials with the pest control records for the premises and the Medical Fitness Certificates of the food handlers. In addition to this, the officials sent milk samples for analysis in order to check for adulteration.
