A Chennai food safety inspection has found hygiene deficiencies and food items without expiry dates at the Nachiappa restaurant operating inside the MLA Hostel in Triplicane, following which officials issued a notice restricting the restaurant from operating until the identified shortcomings are addressed.
The inspection was conducted on September 20 by officials led by Tamilselvan, Chennai district designated officer of the Food Safety Department. The action followed an inspection of the restaurant by Prabhakar, Thousand Lights constituency MLA and Speaker, two days earlier.
During his inspection, Prabhakar found that the restaurant was not being maintained in a hygienic manner and instructed those responsible to rectify the deficiencies. The subsequent departmental inspection examined the food preparation and storage conditions at the restaurant located within the MLA Hostel premises.
Officials found that some food products being used at the restaurant did not carry expiry dates. The department also reported that the restaurant as a whole was being maintained in an unhygienic condition. The findings prompted officials to collect samples of paneer, tea powder and other food items for laboratory examination.
The notice issued to the restaurant owner stated that the establishment should not be operated until the deficiencies identified during the inspection are remedied. The supplied report does not state the laboratory results of the collected samples or specify a deadline for submitting corrective measures.
The inspection places food safety oversight within a public institutional facility under scrutiny. Restaurants operating in such premises serve officials, staff and visitors, making maintenance standards and traceability of food products part of the facility’s wider administrative responsibility. The immediate action announced by the department is the restriction on operations pending rectification of the reported shortcomings and examination of the collected samples.
