Dec 15, 2012

KFC's outlet in city toremain shut, for now

PATNA: Patnaites would now have to wait for an indefinite period to once again enjoy the taste of KFC food as its local outlet was sealed by food and safety department officials on Thursday evening when, during a routine inspection, the outlet failed to produce its food licence. Kentucky Fried Chicken aka KFC is a leading brand of US-based Yum Brands Inc.

Surendra Kumar, designated officer, Patna division, food and safety department, informed TOI, "During a routine inspection on Thursday night, when we asked for licence from the KFC outlet, which opened in the Regent Cinema premises near Gandhi maidan in October, the outlet failed to produce it. After inquiry we found out that they have not even cared to apply for the licence before setting up and starting the restaurant. Thus, after collecting the samples of food and spices from the outlet, we sealed it."

Kumar said, "There are only two ways to deal with such cases - file an FIR against the restaurant or the company applies to the department for licence with all necessary documents. After checking the documents, we can issue the licence."

This whole process usually takes around 15 days. But keeping in mind that KFC is a reputed firm, the officials are open to considering its application for licence on a priority basis, but only if KFC submitted its documents to the department without delay. Else, the matter may linger for an indefinite period, said a source in the department.

The samples of food and spices collected from the KFC outlet have been sent for examination to a government-owned laboratory as the officers concerned have doubts about their quality. "This restaurant uses frozen chicken brought from Kolkata, which is quite far away. We suspect them to be stale and not good for health," said an official on the condition of anonymity. Report of the test would come in about two weeks.

A KFC source said, "The responsibility for completing all document work was given to a Kolkata-based company. But its official took the matter lightly and misled both his company and the KFC." Now, Devyani International Limited, a Delhi-based company who has the franchise for KFC across north India, is looking after the issue itself. One of its officials would come to Patna in a day or two with all the original official documents required for the licence, the source said.

The source added, "KFC has its high quality standards. It brings frozen chicken in an insulated van from a farm in Kolkata, where a special variety of chicken is bred."

73 tonnes of unsafe food products seized

CHENNAI: Substandard food seems to be the bane of the city. Chennai Corporation's food safety department officials on Friday seized 73 tonnes of food products from a manufacturing unit in Kodungaiyur for not having proper labels and safety marks. Officials said that most of these food products did not have a batch number, which means that they could not be tracked or their purity and safety ascertained.

The seized products are worth Rs 12.34 lakh. Officials said they seized 1,450 litres of unsafe oil, 27.2 tonnes of wafers, 34 tonnes of raw materials, and 9.62 tonnes of expired masala powder from the manufacturing unit. Officials said they have taken action against the manufacturing unit as per the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006.

District food safety officer S Lakshmi Narayan said the team carried out the raid in Muthamil Nagar in Kodungaiyur based on a tip-off. "It was found that they have been selling these substandard products in various shops. There was nothing in the packaged products including batch number, expiry date or the address of the manufacture and date of manufacture," he said.

Officials said that they have sent 14 samples of items to King Institute Of Preventive Medicine in Guindy for laboratory tests. "Many children have been buying these food items because they were cheap. We have also issued a notice to the manufacturer for producing mislabeled products," the officer said.