A KFC outlet at City Centre Mall on KS road in Mangaluru, Karnataka, came under scrutiny after a customer complained about receiving chicken from an online order that allegedly had a foul smell and unpleasant taste, Moneycontrol reported.
The report stated that the complainant was former Mangaluru mayor and BJP leader Kavitha Sanil, who had reportedly ordered the chicken through Swiggy for her 10 year old child who then noticed that the chicken appeared black and had a foul smell.
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The Economic Times reported that following the complaint, officials from Karnataka's Food Safety Department/Food Safety and Drug Administration Department conducted a surprise inspection at the KFC outlet.
According to ANI, the inspection covered multiple parts of the establishment including the kitchen, storeroom, cold storage facilities and other storage areas. Food samples were also collected on-site and dispatched to a laboratory for comprehensive testing. The inspection resulted in officials sealing the establishment's go-down according to the ANI reported cited by the Economic Times.
Moneycontrol reported that the officials also found frozen chicken stock carrying packing dates going back to March during the inspection. The discovery raised concerns about the age and storage of the stock. The officials also examined the condition of the cooking oil used at the outlet. Samples of the oil were collected along with chicken samples for laboratory analysis.
According to officials cited by the Economic Times, further legal and administrative action will depend on the laboratory results from the samples collected. This crackdown comes amid a wider food safety enforcement drive across Karnataka, with inspections targeting hotels, restaurants, resorts and other food establishments.
As a part of this enforcement drive, in Mysuru, 9 kg of expired chicken was seized from the Rio Meridian Hotel, 68 kg of meat was seized from the Grand Mercure Hotel and 4 kg of mushrooms were seized from the Q Star Hotel.
The Health Department separately inspected three resorts in Mysuru and Nanjangud taluks, issued three notices and collected five food samples. Officials reportedly discarded approximately 16 kg of expired or perishable food items during the exercise, Moneycontrol reported.
The crackdown also reached government facilities in Bengaluru. The Times of India reported that food safety officials inspected canteens at Vidhana Soudha and the Health Department headquarters, where they found issues including expired food and cockroach infestation leading to sealing action.
For the Mangaluru KFC however, the investigation remains pending, with the final regulatory action expected to be determined after the laboratory analysis of the collected samples, according to the Food Safety Department officials cited by ANI.
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