Mysuru: Deputy Commissioner G Lakhmikanth Reddy on Thursday issued directions to FSSAI, to step up surprise visits and inspections of hotels, restaurants and street food vendors to check the quality of food served to their consumers.Chairing the district-level advisory meeting on food safety, the DC said ensuring quality food to people is the utmost responsibility of officials. The DC asked officials to conduct surprise visits and inspections of luxury hotels as the district administration received complaints about not maintaining cleanliness and serving substandard food.As various vendors were also using artificial coloursand chemical colour sprays to quickly ripen fruits, officials were also conducting raids on such vendors. The DC gave directions to food safety officials to book cases and cancel their licences if they failed to correct their mistakes after penalising, warning and reminding them.MCC food safety officer Ravindra said that the officials conducted various raids on shops involved in adulterating edible oil and using artificial colours. Cases were also booked against various owners for involvement in such activities, he explained. People can also lodge complaints through food safety connect apps if they found shopkeepers using colour agents and chemical sprays to ripen fruits, he said.He also said that the department officials carried out 113 surprise inspections across the city and filed 49 cases after issuing notices. Additional SP C Mallick, Mysuru district food safety and quality controller Kantharaj, among others, were present.
