All eateries should not be seen in bad light over isolated incidents of food poisoning: Hoteliers' body

All hotels and restaurants should not be seen in a bad light over some isolated incidents of food poisoning, an association of eateries in Kerala has said.

The Kochi-based association also said that government officials should take care not to destroy the hotel industry and the livelihood it provides to thousands in the name of carrying out inspections.

The Kerala Hotels and Restaurant Association (KHRA), in a release, said there is a prevailing trend of giving a bad name to all eateries on the basis of a few isolated cases of food poisoning and it should stop.

It also said that the alleged action of Food Safety officials of terming all food stored in freezers of hotels, which operate according to the norms, as ‘expired’ and publicising the same was not a lawful measure.

The association further said that such actions by officials in the name of inspections should stop as it would lead to destroying the livelihood of thousands of people who work in hotels and restaurants.

Those who have violated the norms should be punished.

Meanwhile, the Food Safety Department on Sunday and Monday inspected a total of 641 eateries across the state and of them 36 establishments were closed down for operating in unsanitary conditions or without licenses, a health department release said.

Notices were also issued to 188 eateries, it said.

The KHRA also referred to the suspected food poisoning incident reported a few days ago from Kasaragod district of the state in connection with the death of a young woman and said that without the actual cause of her demise being scientifically proven, there was a campaign to malign hotels across the state based on conjectures and speculation.

The police and food safety officials had on Sunday said that the woman’s death was not due to food poisoning.