UNHYGIENIC CONDITIONS:

FIVE RESTAURANTS INSPECTED

Health officials attached to the Colombo Municipality Health Department recently inspected a number of popular restaurants in the Colombo East Medical Officer of Health Area and found most of them were being operated in unhygienic environments thus violating food safety regulations.

The raid was carried out by Dr. Ishani Ariyachandra of the Colombo East MOH and a team of PHIS on the instructions of Municipal CMO Dr. Ruwan Wijayamuni.

Out of the five restaurants inspected, four including a hotel were operated violating food safety regulations. The only restaurant that maintained a hygienic environment was Mcdonald’s in Borella.

Most of the faulty eateries maintained their kitchens in a poor state and failed to adhere to regulations when storing food or labelling them.

In one restaurant, the kitchen gave a nauseating smell due to an overflowing gully. There had been improper disposal of garbage, King Coconuts and plastic water bottles. Garbage had been accumulating outside the premises creating a mosquito breeding ground.

Meanwhile, a health official said in one restaurant, bread and buns gave an unpleasant odour as they were stored with meat. However, the kitchen of the second restaurant was also in a dilapidated condition with broken and wet floors.

“Food was stored in a poor manner. Fruits were in a bad condition with no labelling or protective wrapping. Dead mosquitoes were found in refrigerated milk. One worker was seen having lunch in the storeroom and his colleague was cutting onion near the staircase with some tomatoes left on the stairs,” he said.

In the third restaurant, mosquito larvae had been found in a poorly maintained water tank. This restaurant had allegedly altered the expiry dates of food items.

“Some labels showed discrepancies in dates. For instance, the original MFD of a product was 2017 for a period of one year, but it had been distorted to 2018 for one and a half years. Also, the labels were not in two languages,” the official said. The main chef had been found with an oozing abrasion above his uncovered right lateral elbow.

In the fourth eatery -- which was the only hotel -- the management had failed to cover garbage bins loaded with rotten vegetables. The storeroom had been maintained improperly and the bottom of the deep freezer -- full of blood, rotten prawns and uncovered fish -- had not been inspected for several months.

Appropriate action had been taken by the Health Department against these faulty restaurants.