Lassi shop owners to take corrective steps

KOCHI: After three days of intense raid and inspections at lassi shops in Kochi and its suburbs, the Health Department has revealed most of the shops have started corrective measures. Some of the lassi shop franchise owners have taken a temporary break from the business while others have come up with stringent hygienic measures.“When we planned similar inspections on Monday, we came to know that some of the shops have already taken a temporary break from the sales. Those outlets which are open are mainly offering shakes, juices and other items.

They have also improved the hygiene of the shops and the staff, expecting a sudden inspection. So we are planning to wait for a couple of days before launching the next round of inspections,” said Zakkeer Hussain, food safety enforcement officer.The lassi outlets came under the radar after a raid conducted last week at a manufacturing unit at Karukappilly.  The inspection was carried out by the State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) Department after they found that nearly 100 lassi shops had mushroomed in and around the city in the past three months.

“The sealed unit at Karukappilly used to supply lassi ingredients to nearly 30 outlets in the city. Some were making the ingredients on their own by paying a 5 per cent commission to the franchise. We came to know that most of the outlets procure the franchisee ownership by paying Rs 10 to Rs 13 lakh,” added Zakkeer. Meanwhile, a staff at one of the lassi shops, on condition of anonymity, said the business has gone down after the raids. “Earlier, our daily business amounted up to Rs 25,000. Now it has come down to Rs 2,500. Most of the customers who were ‘regulars’ are now looking at us like ‘enemies’.

The interesting fact is that we were not even purchasing lassi ingredients from the Karukappilly unit. We are offering nearly 50 variety of beverages here, out of which three of them only need lassi ingredients,” he added.Meanwhile, Zakkeer said along with lassi shops, the department will also intensify inspections at juice shops. “We will intensify the raids on juice shops. The water samples, fruit quality and the quality of the ice used in beverages will be inspected,” he added.