74% Mumbai Restaurants Are Unhygienic! Fancy Eateries Are Violating Basic FDA Rules

In the wake of the recent event of food delivery guy eating food from packaged food boxes, another shocking fact about food industry has come to fore. If you have been choosing to go out and eat in restaurants within the city of Mumbai then chances are you are consuming unhealthy, unhygienic food. In a special drive conducted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), it was revealed that more than 74% of the 500 popular restaurants in the city violate the basic rules of hygiene and food safety. Video of Zomato Delivery Boy Eating Food From Delivery Boxes Goes Viral, Check What Zomato Replied.

Among the popular restaurants included in the survey is a swanky cafe in Kala Ghoda, a Mughlai food chain in Colaba, a vegetarian chain which boasts of several outlets at the highway are among the top restaurants that have received notice from the FDA. Overall 3,047 restaurants in the state were a part of the inspection and about 87% of those lacked sanitation, air quality, ventilation, food packaging and safety. These restaurants were also in violation of the health checks of the staff. 327 food eateries in the city are served with notices of improvement. Milk Adulteration Busted by FDA in Mumbai; Here's How to Check If Milk is Pure Or Not. 

If the employees at these restaurants are sick, they can contaminate the food preparation. FDA commissioner Pallavi Darade was quoted in a TOI report, "The results are mind-boggling. We found health and hygiene concerns in almost every step of food preparation and distribution. Unfortunately, some renowned restaurants, which families have been frequenting for decades, had very untidy kitchens." This special drive has begun about a year ago and it will be continued in 4,000 more restaurants in the state of Maharashtra. The point the drive makes is not even the classiest of places, with swanky interiors, good ambience may not have clean kitchens.

As a norm, it is expected that kitchens will be cleaned every day but several eateries do not clean for days together! The interiors of these eateries may be fancy but the kitchens have chipped walls and ceilings. There were no insect-free or pest-proof fittings within them. "Food Safety and Standards Act has very clear guidelines on provision of clean bathrooms for staff. But many had filthy facilities, which raised doubts on whether staff could wash hands properly before preparing, packing or serving food," said the official.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 14, 2018 12:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).