A food safety raid in Salt Lake has shut three eateries near City Centre after officials found expired, rotten and stale food items, including fungus-infected meat and expired paneer. The state government’s food safety wing suspended the operating licence of a popular dhaba indefinitely and stopped operations at two adjoining outlets for at least the next two days.
The three-member inspection team conducted surprise checks on street food stalls and the dhaba before entering the restaurant’s kitchen and food storage areas. Officials found expired paneer, fungus-infected mutton and chicken, along with other unhygienic food items at the dhaba. The items were seized and the restaurant’s operating licence was cancelled, according to the report.
A well-known sweet and bhujia shop located near the dhaba was also closed after inspectors found stale lassi and other food items. An adjacent fast-food eatery was included in the action, with both outlets ordered to stop operations for at least two days. The report did not specify the names of the sweet shop or the fast-food outlet.
The raid followed questions about the condition of food being stored and served at the eateries. The latest action indicates that the inspections were not limited to a single kitchen but covered a cluster of food businesses operating close to a major commercial destination in Salt Lake.
Sources cited in the report said authorities had inspected the restaurants earlier and imposed fines. The management of the dhaba, however, allegedly failed to make the required improvements in food quality despite the earlier action. The subsequent suspension and closure therefore form part of a continuing enforcement process rather than a first inspection.
The action also highlights the role of routine inspection and follow-up in food safety enforcement in dense urban commercial areas. Restaurants, sweet shops, fast-food outlets and street food stalls often operate close to malls, transport routes and residential neighbourhoods, placing food-handling practices in direct contact with large and changing customer volumes. In this case, the inspection focused on kitchen conditions, storage practices and the quality of food items kept on the premises.
The crackdown follows wider enforcement by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. In September, the civic body suspended food licences and temporarily closed more than 40 major restaurants, eateries and sweet shops across the city during a food safety drive.
The state food safety wing’s immediate steps are the suspension of the dhaba’s licence, seizure of the identified food items and temporary closure of the adjoining bhujia and fast-food outlets. The dhaba will remain shut indefinitely under the reported licence action, while the other two establishments were ordered to remain closed for at least the next two days.
