Michael Brown 
Multiple Food Safety Violations Found In Raid At Rameswaram Cafe In Hyderabad
For the past few days, the Food Safety Department of Kerala has been conducting inspections of various restaurants in many parts of Hyderabad. The officials of the department visited the Madhapur area of Hyderabad. The officials raided the outlet of a famous Bengaluru-based brand called The Rameshwaram Cafe. During the raid, the officials found various mislabeled and expired food items at the cafe. The items included 10 Kilos of expired curd, expired 8 liters of milk worth Rs.700 and expired urad dal of 100 kilos worth Rs. 16 thousand.
Various Other Violation Found At Rameshwaram Cafe
During the raid at the Rameshwaram Cafe, not only expired items were found but the officials caught other violations done by the cafe also. The food safety team seized 20 kilos of white lobia and 450 kilos of raw rice. Both items were not labeled properly. The worth of raw rice and white lobia is Rs.26,000. Jaggery worth Rs.30,000 was also seized by the officials as it was not labeled. The food handlers of the cafe were not able to submit their medical fitness certificates. Moreover, the officials also noticed that the dustbins were not properly covered in the cafe.
Food Safety Department Raided Other Restaurants Also
Baahubali Kitchen in Madhapur was raided by the department on the same day. In this raid also the department found various violations which included the use of synthetic colors, cockroach infestation, unhygienic kitchen, improper storage of food, no records of pest control, and other violations. The food handlers of this restaurant also were not able to submit their medical certificate. Moreover, the restaurant was unsuccessful in presenting a copy of its FSSAI license.
The food safety department previously raided food outlets in Hyderabad’s Somajiguda and Banjara Hills areas. During raids in these areas, the officials unveiled the violations at Baskin Robbins, Labonel Fine Baking, and other restaurants.
The Rameshwaram Founders Statement
The Rameshwaram Cafe is a popular food chain of South Indian restaurants from Bangalore. The founders of the restaurant Raghavendra Rao and Divya Raghvendra Rao have taken note of the food safety department at the Hyderabad cafe and have given their statement saying, “ We are already looking forward into the internal matter and the internal inquiry has been ordered to cross-check the facts and take stock of every outlet. We will cooperate with all authorities in getting to the bottom of the issue. As per the consumption perspective at our outlet in Hyderabad, we require over 300 liters of milk daily,500 kgs of urad dal weekly, and 80 to 100 liters of curd every day. The stock that was found during the raid was sealed and not used, intended for their dispatch. We follow all laws governing material procurement and buy high-quality products for best vendors.” The founders in their statement highlighted that “some reports have falsely stated that cockroaches were found in the cafe’s kitchen. The official report does not mention this; in fact, the cockroaches were found at another restaurant, not at our Cafe. At Rameshwaram Cafe, we conduct deep cleaning daily and pest control every month to maintain the standards. We are also looking forward to our hygiene and standard checks for all our outlets and want to express our strong commitment to providing our consumers with the best in the category. We have always believed that it is crucial to maintain certain standards of food and services to win the hearts and souls of our consumers and we will leave no stone unturned to make that possible”.
