Five-star hotels in Bengaluru found storing expired food, fungal-affected vegetables
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Food safety officials found fungal growth on vegetables, expired milk and other food products during inspections of 26 three-star and five-star hotels across Bengaluru on Friday.
The Food Safety and Drug Administration Department said 30 teams of food safety officers conducted inspections across all zones under the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike. The inspections found unhygienic kitchen and storage conditions, expired food products and improper storage practices.
Officials also found food and vegetables affected by fungal growth, along with violations involving the separation of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food. Some hotels were also found to have improper labelling, food misbranding and violations of mandatory Food Safety and Standards Authority of India labelling requirements.
Expired milk and other dairy and bakery products, as well as chicken, fish, meat and vegetables, were found in storage.
At The Lalit Ashok (Annex South), officials seized 76 kg of meat and 200 kg of vegetables and destroyed 32 litres of expired milk. Shangri-La Bengaluru had 15 kg of meat seized, while 19 kg was seized from Four Seasons Hotel Bengaluru.
Officials seized 3 kg of expired bakery products from Vivanta Bengaluru Whitefield and 72 kg of meat from Taj Yeshwantpur.
The largest seizure was reported at The Radisson Blu (The Atria), where officials seized 105 kg of expired food products, including 50 kg of chicken, 23 kg of meat, 7 kg of fish and 25 kg of vegetables.
Authorities collected 35 food samples for laboratory analysis. The samples included tea powder, chicken, mutton, fish, edible oil, chilli powder, turmeric powder, tomato sauce, lemon juice, cheese, papad, cashew nuts, ginger, pepper powder, spice powder and milk.
The department issued notices to the hotels and said further action would depend on laboratory reports and applicable legal provisions.