Joy of dining out comes with its own risks!

Visakhapatnam: Savouring food in hotels and restaurants in Visakhapatnam city seems to be synonymous with shelling out money and eventually falling sick. Meat stored for days, moldy food, leftover food of one diner gets served to another, liberal usage of food colors and tasting salt are some of the risks diners have to face when they visit some hotels and restaurants.

The inspections carried out by the food safety officials reveal several horrifying facts. There were operators running food stalls without permission and violations seem to be plenty.

In the inspections conducted by the authorities two months ago, samples were sent to a lab in Hyderabad. The report indicated usage of artificial food colours and several violations. In some of the hotels that serve non-vegetarian food, poor quality of food was served without following basic norms.

Earlier when the Food Safety and Legal Metrology officials when they went for a surprise inspection in various hotels across the city, they were shocked to see stale meat stored in the refrigerators, placement of dustbins along with food, unhygienic kitchens, etc.,

Food Safety State Joint Director Poorna Chandra Rao and his staff conducted an inspection at various hotels. They found processed food stored in the refrigerator. Similarly, they noticed that coloring agents were being used extensively while cooking.

In Visakhapatnam, the authorities conducted inspections in several hotels and restaurants and sent 81 samples, out of which 29 food samples were found to be unsafe. In 15 samples, it was found that they used harmful colouring agents and tasting salts.

Ingredients like jaggery, sweets and cakes crossed the expiry date. The officials informed that criminal cases would be filed against a number of restaurants for impacting consumers’ health.

Food safety officials also conducted inspections in many hotels and restaurants in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday. Some samples were sent to the Hyderabad lab.

In the past, people used to visit restaurants to celebrate weddings and birthdays. For the past few years, a majority of families are getting habitual to frequenting restaurants during weekends.

After the arrival of online food delivery apps, the number of people placing orders for food from hotels has increased drastically. With this, hotels and restaurants have sprang up all over the city. Doctors warn that a large percentage of eateries fail to meet such quality standards, which can lead to gastrointestinal diseases and even cancer in some cases.

The officials made it clear that the inspections are an ongoing exercise and will continue periodically. They informed that action will be taken against those who are not in compliance with the food safety norms.