The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation has destroyed around 120 kg of unhygienic, contaminated and stale food seized from hotels and eateries in and around Patia during an intensified food safety drive ahead of the festive season. The civic body also fined 12 establishments a total of Rs 16,000 during the surprise inspections.
BMC food safety officials examined kitchens, refrigerators, food storage facilities and utensils at several hotels during the operation. They found violations related to food storage and hygiene standards, including cooked food being kept in refrigerators without maintaining the required temperature, according to designated food safety officer Satyajit Patel.
“Steamed rice, fried rice, paneer curry, mixed curry, dal, dal fry, spices, chutney and other cooked food items were found to be of substandard quality,” Patel said. Food samples have been collected for laboratory testing, while the stale items were destroyed at the spot, he added.
The inspection comes as the civic body steps up checks across Bhubaneswar before the festive season, when demand for restaurant meals, prepared foods and street food typically increases. The latest action focused on the conditions in which food was prepared and stored, as well as the hygiene of facilities and utensils used by food businesses.
The BMC has also cited a recent raid on a gupchup manufacturing unit as a serious food safety concern. During that operation, officials found food stock being stored inside a latrine. They seized nearly three quintals of rotten boiled potatoes, food colouring agents, 50 bags of gupchup, hundreds of litres of tamarind water, stale chana and used cooking oil.
Authorities suspected that the materials seized at the unit were being supplied to hundreds of street food vendors across Bhubaneswar. The seized items were destroyed immediately to prevent their sale and consumption, according to the report.
The enforcement action highlights the role of municipal inspections in regulating a food system that extends beyond individual restaurants to manufacturing units and street vendors. In the Patia inspections, officials checked storage practices inside commercial kitchens, while the earlier gupchup raid involved ingredients and prepared materials that could enter the wider street-food supply chain.
Patel said the civic body would continue surprise inspections across markets, restaurants and food manufacturing units during the festive season. The stated aim of the drive is to prevent consumers from being exposed to contaminated or unsafe food and to enforce food safety norms across the city.
BMC officials have also appealed to residents to remain vigilant and report unhygienic food-handling practices to the authorities. The samples collected during the latest inspections are expected to undergo laboratory testing, while further surprise checks are planned across Bhubaneswar.
