KOZHIKODE: According to the district officials of the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), more than 2 out of every six eateries and other food businesses in the city do not possess a licence or, in some cases, a majority of them have not yet renewed the expired licence yet. Action was taken recently against a hotel at Palayam whose kitchen had a leaking manhole in the same room.
A top official with FSSAI here said, “All restaurants, street food stalls, fruits and vegetable shops, and other retail outlets that sell edibles, have to either register with the department or procure a licence from the department. But in a majority of the inspections conducted in the city, it has come to notice that a majority of hotels here have failed to obtain the licence. We also noticed that among these a majority of them had a licence earlier but had failed to renew it for years”.
But shortage of manpower led to the officials not being able to gather the exact number of hotels or eateries that possess a licence or those who are yet to renew their licences. “The District has less than 10 officials and more than 600 eateries spread over different parts. It is only after we get complaints from the public about the unhygienic condition of hotels, we get to know about the lack of licence,” he pointed out.
Officials in the last five days have taken action against seven hotels and eateries in the city that were found to be functioning without a licence. These were closed down as part of the action taken against them. According to the act, a vendor who fails to register or obtain a licence is liable to be forced to shut shop, pay a fine ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 10 lakh or face imprisonment of up to six months. But food safety officials said they had not suspended the licence of any city operator so far.
