Kodaikanal
The Food Safety and Drug Administration department destroyed five litres of spoilt sambar at a restaurant in Kodaikanal following a complaint from a tourist on Saturday.
A tourist from Darapur, eating lunch at Kodaikanal’s Al Arab Restaurant located on Lawsghat Road opposite the Government Hospital, phoned the food Designated Officer, Department of Food Safety and Drug Administration, K. Natarajan, to complain about the poor quality of food.
Dr. Natarajan said a food safety officer quickly reached the spot, took a sample of the ingredients used to prepare the food item and then destroyed the rest. He added that a warning notice was issued to the restaurant.
“The sample from our testing labs will arrive in about three weeks. If the product is substandard or misbranded, the restauranter and other stakeholders, including the manufacturer and the distributor of the product, will be asked to pay fines ranging from ₹ 3 lakh to ₹5 lakh,” he said.
If the food is found to be unsafe, the department can initiate criminal proceedings. However, the department provides restaurants two weeks to rectify their defects when the warning notice is issued, he said.
The summer season sees a high inflow of tourists. Such incidents have taken place in the past and are a result of negligence, said a restauranter who did not wish to be named.