Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Minister M V Govindan has directed the secretaries of local self-government bodies to take stern action against eateries that are operating without licence.
The Minister for Local Self-Government gave the directive after a plus-one student died of food poisoning after consuming shawarma at Cheruvathur in Kasaragod a couple of days ago.
The local bodies should carry out a statewide inspection to find out whether the eateries, including hotels, bakeries and fast-food outlets, are operating with licence.
The Minister directed the secretaries to take action to shut down the eateries that are operating without licence.
The health wing of the local bodies should carry out checks at the stalls selling ice cream and cool drinks, and at wayside eateries (thattukada). The inspectors will be looking for stale and adulterated food as well as the overall hygiene at the place.
If any issues are found, then the operations of the eatery should be immediately stopped and the licence must be cancelled, the Minister instructed.
As the atmospheric temperature is high, food containing meat is likely to get spoiled quickly. The secretaries of local bodies, with the help of the health wing, should carry out inspections at outlets selling non-veg food and ensure quality. Steps would be taken to ensure that good quality food is being served.
The Minister said that caution should be exercised to prevent another incident like Cheruvathur from recurring.
