Hyderabad: A state-level food safety team conducted a raid at Santosh Foods in Yenugonda, Mahabubnagar district in Telangana on Saturday, December 14. The inspection uncovered multiple food safety violations raising serious hygiene concerns resulting in the suspension of the establishment’s license under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
During the raid, the Telangana food safety team found that food products were being packed with labels displaying incorrect and inactive food licenses and the products lacked mandatory labelling requirements such as manufacturing and expiry dates. These violations led to the seizure of food items including chips, Namkeen, roasted groundnuts, fried moong dal and kara mixture worth Rs 60,500.
Further, the team observed hazardous practices at the establishment such as food ingredients like groundnuts stored in urea bags, a material prohibited for food handling due to contamination risks.
Then, pest-infested flour and fungal-infected potatoes valued at Rs 26,000 were discovered and discarded immediately. Additionally, reused oil and synthetic food colours which are banned under food safety regulations were being used in the preparation of snacks.
Earlier, the Telangana food safety department conducted a raid on an eatery in Medak and discovered multiple violations. The raid was conducted on December 3 at Sunny Foods in Kallakal, Manoharabad.
The establishment was found to be operating without a valid FSSAI license. Additionally, the company was manipulating product names using attractive, irrelevant pictorials and names which violates FSSAI labelling guidelines.
During the raid, the Telangana food safety team also discovered the use of expired food additives including tomato masala and maggie masala for the preparation of ready-to-eat savouries.
As a result, Rs 2.13 lakh worth of snacks like Namkeen, Chips, and Colored Saunf were seized and discarded to ensure public safety.
Food safety raids across Telangana continue
The scrutiny of restaurants in Hyderabad continues as the Telangana food safety department’s task force conducted raids on Saturday, December 14 at Daily Rituals restaurant located at Road No 45 in Jubilee Hills.
Expired products were discovered on the premises, including a 280 ml bottle of biryani flavour that expired on October 2, 2024, and a 180 gm samosa pastry that expired on November 28, 2024. Both items have been seized.
On Friday, December 13 the food and safety department raided the popular Heart Cup Coffee Restaurant and Bar. During the raid, officials discovered a live cockroach infestation in the kitchen, which had a littered floor and was not equipped to remove food waste from the drains. Moreover, the ceiling of the kitchen floor was found to be covered with soot.
On November 20, a task force of the Telangana food safety officials conducted food raids at nutraceutical manufacturing units in IDA Mallapur revealing alarming safety violations and regulatory non-compliance. The inspections focused on two facilities, Vin Biomed and Nuvista Pharmaceutical Pvt Ltd. Both were found to have numerous issues that jeopardized consumer safety.
The task force seized six kg of co-Enzyme Q10 (Nutra) Powder worth Rs 50,000 due to an invalid FSSAI license and 17 kg of MK Cocoa Powder valued at Rs 6,800 for lacking an FSSAI license and batch number.
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