Telangana Food Safety department cracks down on food outlets

Telangana’s Food Safety Taskforce has launched a major statewide enforcement drive on Saturday, November 1, inspecting 12 highway food outlets along three key national highways, NH-65 (Hyderabad–Vijayawada), NH-163 (Warangal–Hyderabad), and NH-44 (Kurnool–Hyderabad), covering Sangareddy, Warangal, and Jogulamba Gadwal districts.

During the inspections, officials found serious violations at The Hotel NH-9 (The Palace Hotel) in Rudraram, Sangareddy. The establishment was flagged for highly unhygienic kitchen conditions, pest and rodent infestation, uncovered and unlabelled food items, clogged drainage, improper segregation of vegetarian and non-vegetarian sections, and suspected use of synthetic food colours.

Following the inspection, the hotel’s licence was suspended under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. A total of 107.5 kilograms of unsafe food, including prawns, fish, chicken, paneer, and gobi fry, was discarded on the spot. Authorities have ordered that the food business operator remain closed until final orders are issued by the competent authority, said the Commissioner of Food Safety handle on X.

Other outlets, including Taj Palace Hotel, Athidhi 44 Drive-In, Lepakshi Restaurants on NH-44, and Minerva, Vivera, Utsav, and Orissa Dhaba on NH-65, were also found violating hygiene and food safety standards. Common lapses included poor kitchen hygiene, unlabelled food containers, expired ingredients, and reuse of cooking oil. In total, seven food samples were lifted, and eight improvement notices were issued.

Specific enforcement actions included:

• Utsav Restaurant, Pedda Kaparathi (NH-65, Chityala Mandal): 16 kg of stored meat and seafood, 3 kg butter, 20 kg red gravy, 10 kg Manchurian, 3 kg chicken lollipops, and 15 kg of artificially coloured food were discarded on the spot.
• Athidhi Restaurant, Koyalagudem (NH-65, Choutuppal): Officials discarded 8 kg of spoiled chicken and meat, 5 kg of expired dry fruits, 10 litres of spoiled sauces, 12 kg of other spoiled food, and 1.5 kg of synthetic colours.
• Sangam Hotel, Koyalagudem (NH-65, Choutuppal): Found with 2 kg of synthetic food colours; 8 kg of long-stored cooked food without use-by labels was discarded.
• The Fort Food Court (NH-163): 6 kg of coloured prawns, corn, and chicken were discarded. Authorities seized 15 kg of red gram dal, 9 kg of turmeric, 18 packets of noodles, and 12 kg of tamarind for defective labelling.
• Minerva Coffee Shop & Blue Fox Restaurant (NH-163): Discarded 1 kg of synthetic food colours and 5 kg of label-defective products.
• Hotel Vivera (NH-163): Discarded 12 litres of expired cool drinks and 2 kg of long-stored gravy.
• Taj Palace Restaurant (NH-44, Gadwal): 8 kg of stale raw chicken and 3 kg of boiled vegetables were destroyed. The establishment failed to produce bills and was found operating without a valid licence.
• Athidhi Restaurant (NH-44, Gadwal): Stale biryani pieces and cooked chicken stored in the refrigerator were discarded on the spot.