Surat: Since Aug 18, health teams have checked 971 hotels and 182 open food outlets. Of them, 639 were issued notices to comply with the guidelines, and 4,368 kg of food unfit for human consumption was destroyed. Apart from this, a total of 83 samples of food products have been collected for testing. During the drive, Rs 18.25 lakh administrative charges have been collected from the establishments, and 81 have been ordered to be closed immediately.The drive was started following the death of a girl allegedly due to food poisoning after eating food from a restaurant.On the fourth day of the drive initiated to find out unhygienic conditions in restaurants and food outlets, the health department of Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) checked 223 restaurants and 77 open food outlets. A total of 765 kg of food unfit for consumption was found and destroyed during the drive.Of the restaurants and food outlets, seven were ordered to be closed over food quality and hygiene guideline violations. The outlets which were closed were served notices to make necessary improvements and on completing them, the restaurants can start operation after verification by health staff.“SMC can order to keep a restaurant closed till they comply with the guidelines. If they follow the guideline our officer visits their premises and permit them to start operation again,” said a health official.Among those surveyed, 149 establishments were issued notices for hygiene-related violations. From those found violating the norms, a total of Rs 4.95 lakh fine was collected.According to the department, the inspections covered multiple parameters, including overall hygiene in kitchens, quality of food served, expiry dates of stored items, storage and handling of stale or loose food materials, availability of medical fitness certificates of food handlers and cooks, pest control certification, purity and safety of water used for cooking and proper waste disposal systems.The inspection teams also placed special emphasis on dairy products and related items such as paneer, cheese, butter, buttermilk and edible oil. Restaurants were instructed to display information on dairy products on notice boards and menus to improve transparency and help consumers make informed choices.
