Food Safety officials suspend kitchen licence of Chennai's popular restaurant chain over poor hygiene

The Food Safety Department of Tamil Nadu has temporarily cancelled the kitchen licence of Chennai’s popular restaurant chain Murugan Idli Shop for having an unhygienic kitchen.

A food safety official of Tiruvallur district said, “The food is being supplied from the kitchen at Ambattur Industrial Estate to around 23 outlets of Murugan Idli Kadai. We inspected the area and found fault in the functioning of the kitchen. So, we gave 50 days time to rectify them. But, they failed to do. Again, we issued a show-cause notice, but they did not rectify then also. So, we cancelled the licence temporarily. If they rectify those defects and come to us, we will revoke the cancellation of licence after inspection.”

“We noted 10 main defects like the flooring of the kitchen was damaged, the washing area also not maintained well. Packing items were not handled properly. The temperature in storage coolers was not maintained. The kitchen was not hygienic,” the official further stated.

Meanwhile, the food safety officials also issued a notice to Murugan Idli Kadai outlet at Parrys based on a complaint.

T R Prabhakaran, a complainant, stated, “I went to Murugan Idli Kadai outlet on Friday and ordered for a meal. While eating, I found a worm in the rice. When asked about it, an in-charge of the outlet said, the food was not prepared there and it was brought from the kitchen at Ambattur. So, the worm would have entered the food while on transit. Then, I filed a complaint with the Food Safety Department through their Whats App complaint number.”

A Food Safety Official of Chennai district said, “We found that the workers had no medical certificate, also periodical pest control is not done. There were also other faults. So we issued notice.”