Kolkata, Sept. 13 -- The Kolkata Municipal Corporation's (KMC) food safety drive intensified ahead of the festive season with civic officials inspecting more than 10 sweet shops on Saturday, while a rooftop restaurant on Chowringhee became the first among the establishments facing action to have its licence restored.
The KMC food safety team mainly visited sweet shops in north Kolkata and collected samples wherever officials considered laboratory testing necessary. The inspections focused on possible adulteration and the use of unauthorised colours and other impurities in sweets, with modak among the items under scrutiny.
Officials said more sweet shops across the city would be inspected in the coming days.
The action came as the civic body stepped up checks on food establishments before the festive rush. KMC Municipal Commissioner and Administrator Smita Pandey had earlier said sweet shops were among the priority establishments for inspection.
Meanwhile, Roots, the rooftop resto-bar near Exide, has had its licence suspension revoked after the restaurant submitted documents, including test reports from an accredited laboratory. Its food and ingredient samples were found to have cleared the tests, paving the way for the eatery to resume operations.
The development offers a possible route back for other restaurants and food outlets that have faced similar action. KMC has maintained that establishments can seek reopening after addressing deficiencies and producing the required documents and test results.
The civic body's wider drive has placed hygiene, food storage, handling practices and laboratory verification under closer scrutiny, with restaurants and sweet shops being asked to rectify shortcomings before they are allowed to operate normally.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.