“I bought bananas from Reliance Smart Miyapur five days ago and experienced a burning sensation after eating one. Today, I noticed bubbles and seepage from a ripe banana,” wrote a user on X on May 28 tagging food safety authorities.
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Two days later, food safety teams inspected the premises and sent samples for analysis. The Assistant Food Controller conveyed this information to the user via a reply.
Telangana’s Food Safety department, which has become very proactive recently with regular inspections and dissemination of information about hygiene practices in food businesses, is getting more social media attention. Their inspections have uncovered major hygiene violations in popular restaurants throughout Hyderabad and its neighbouring areas.
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The Task Force’s efforts extend beyond inspections. Since they began, residents have increasingly taken to the social media platform, X, to share their complaints about unhygienic food and conditions.
Whether it’s discovering cockroaches in dosas, worms in chicken biryani, or food poisoning incidents at International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIIT-H), the food safety team has acted on all these and many more after receiving complaints through social media.
“Whenever we receive a complaint on X tagging us, it is immediately forwarded to a centralised control room, where an ID number is generated. The complaint is then sent to the food inspector concerned, after which teams head to the locations and conduct inspections,” said Balaji Raju, Assistant Food Controller of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).
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“Based on the violations, the teams will either issue an improvement notice to the establishment for minor violations or Summary Trial Cases (STC) will be initiated against establishments. In cases of major violations, where tested samples are found unsafe, a criminal case is filed against the establishment,” informed Mr. Raju.
While authorities have their perspective, establishments are also facing issues with patrons allegedly trying to tarnish the reputations by posting fake complaints on social media.
On July 2, Mehfil Group of Restaurants issued a statement on Instagram, saying, “While we are investigating the possibility of recent allegations regarding our food quality, some of these incidents may have been deliberate acts of sabotage. We want to assure you that legal action is being taken against those responsible.”
Similarly, after the Food Safety department conducted inspections at The Rameshwaram Cafe in Hyderabad on May 24 and discovered expired food items, the cafe issued a statement on X and Instagram the following day clarifying that the expired stock was sealed and not intended for consumption.