CHENNAI, Sept 11 : The officials of food safety department in Tamil Nadu conducted raids across the state on eateries specifically non-vegetarian restaurants and hotels and wayside eateries on Friday and Saturday. Sources in the department told IANS that the raids were conducted after a ten-year-old girl in Arni, Tiruvannamalai district died of food poisoning after consuming stale biryani on Thursday night.
Situation is tense at Arni after the ten-year-old girl, Lokshana died consuming biryani at Seven Star Biryani centre. At least 21 people were admitted at various hospitals following vomiting and nausea. Doctors said that stale food has led to complications.
Food safety officials inspected the premises of the hotel and found after testing that 15 kg of stale chicken meat was stored in the hotel. Police and food safety officials sealed the eatery and a criminal case was registered against the owner, Kadar Basha, who has been taken in police custody along with his cook.
Following the death of the ten-year-old girl and the hospitalization of 21 people at Arni, the food safety department conducted a series of raids at restaurants, hotels and wayside eateries across the state and recovered huge quantities of stale and contaminated food.
This was on the directive of the state food minister R. Sakkarapani who immediately on receiving information convened a meeting of senior officials of the food safety department and ordered raids on the eateries.
The minister for food and civil supplies, R. Sakkarapani while speaking to IANS said, “The state government is committed to take action against those who serve stale food to consumers and the action is following the death of a ten-year-old girl at Arni, Tiruvannamalai on consuming stale biryani at an eatery. Stale and contaminated chicken meat was recovered from this eatery and we have sealed it down.”
The minister also said that searches and raids are being carried out across the state and those who were found guilty of serving stale food would be taken to task.
IANS