Task Force babus swoop on Lulu Hypermarket, uncover violations

Hyderabad : The Task Force of the Food Safety Department of Telangana raided the popular Lulu Hypermarket in Kukatpally and found several violations during the inspection. Infested and expired food and houseflies were found hovering near meat storage.

Several violations were found in the raid at Lulu Hypermarket. During the raid in the bakery unit, the officers found infested items like 10 kg of Atta bread mix, 15 kg of loose baguette bread mix and discarded them.

They also found expired and beyond use-by-date food articles like 20 kg of Sesame Seeds, 20 litres of toned milk, biscuit packets, 7.5 kg of glaze, 5kg of Gems, and 2 packets of fruit juice were found and discarded.

The updated copy of the FSSAI licence for the Lulu Hypermarket’s Hyderabad branch was also not displayed at the entrance premises. Workers in the food section were found wearing hair caps, gloves, masks and uniforms. 40 FoSTaC trained supervisors were available at the premises.

Moreover, houseflies were found hovering near meat storage. However, pest control records, medical fitness certificates of food handlers were available at the market. “A notice will be issued, and further actions will be taken accordingly,” said the Telangana Food Safety Commissioner.

The officers also raided Sri Sri Caterers at the JNTU Canteen and found it in violation of hygiene standards. Handlers were found without hedgers, aprons and gloves.

The officers said during the raid, semi-prepared food items and cut vegetables were left open without proper labelling and the kitchen premises were found to be in an unhygienic condition with food waste thrown directly on the floor.

Nearly 3.5 kg of rice flour was found expired and discarded. The raid also revealed that the kitchen also lacked insect-proof screens and the door was not fit for preventing the entry of pests. The outlet too had an improper FSSAI license. Medical fitness and pest control records were not made available.

Earlier, a task force team also raided dairy manufacturing units in Hyderabad.

At Sapthagiri Foods, located in Karmanghat, it was found that the premises were not fitted with insect-proof screens, and the doors were not close-fitted to avoid the entry of pests.

Moreover, the vehicle meant for the transportation of dairy products did not have an FSSAI license/registration. Medical Fitness Certificates for food handlers and pest control records for the premises were not available with the FBO.

At Creamline Dairy Products Limited in Uppal, during the raid, the team found that raw food articles like Soluble Essence and Candied Karonda were not stored according to the temperature mentioned on their labels. Moreover, the workers in the food section were not found wearing hair caps, gloves, masks, and uniforms.