The Excise Department has decided to initiate action  against toddy shops serving food without a license from the food safety department. Any failure to comply with this could lead to serious consequences, officials have warned. 

In an order earlier this week to the joint, deputy, and assistant excise commissioners across all the districts, Excise Commissioner Seeram Sambasiva Rao has asked that all toddy shops serving food be asked to compulsorily secure a food safety license.

He has ordered strict action against toddy shops which do not adhere to rules. The action is to be taken under the Abkari Shops Disposal Rule 9 (12), which mandates that all toddy shops must operate in a clean, hygienic, and structurally sound environment. If not, legal action can be taken under Sec. 56 of the Kerala Abkari Act, which punishes holders of a license or permit who willfully do or omit to do anything in breach of any condition of their license or permit.

The order comes in the wake of repeated complaints to the department regarding toddy shops serving food in unhygienic conditions.

Earlier in June, a man named Jyotish from Kumarakom had died of food poisoning after consuming fish curry from a toddy shop in Kottayam. This prompted the excise department to launch Operation Shuddhi, a statewide enforcement drive focused on conducting continuous raids, monitoring transport, and running chemical tests on toddy samples to completely eliminate adulteration in traditional toddy shops across the state.