The food safety and drug administration on Tuesday inspected the kitchens of Indira canteens in Bengaluru, days after cracking down on several star hotels and high-end restaurants in the city.
Details
Videos of the kitchens, which surfaced on social media, showed rats crawling through sacks of rice, with officials seen checking the items. One of the videos further showed torn packaging for a food item.
The Indira canteens is one of the Congress-led Karnataka government’s flagship initiatives which serves highly subsided food. It was started by former chief minister Siddaramaiah during his previous stint from 2013 to 2018.
The food safety and drug administration conducted the searches at Indira canteens at Gottigere in Bengaluru South and Lingarajapuram in Bengaluru North, according to a press release by the department on Tuesday. “The warehouse of the Indira Canteen at Gottigere was sealed due to the unhygienic food handling and storage conditions observed during the inspection, in accordance with the applicable FSSAI provisions,” it said.
The department further issued notices “to the concerned food business operators of all three establishments” after finding violations.
