Kolkata clamps down on unsafe eateries, suspending licences of 40 food outlets

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) rolled out an intensive food‑safety drive last week, roaming the city’s lanes and markets to poke around more than five hundred food establishments. In total, 592 restaurants, cafés and street‑food stalls were examined, 161 samples were collected for laboratory testing and a staggering 1,224 kg of questionable food was destroyed on the spot.

At the end of the exercise, Commissioner Smita Pandey announced that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) licences of roughly 40 outlets have been suspended. The decision isn’t final; the law doesn’t allow outright cancellation by the municipal body, so the licences have been put on hold for a fortnight. Within those two weeks, owners must clean up their act, bring the premises up to code and prove they can keep food safe for consumers.

What triggered the suspensions? Inspectors found a parade of violations that would make any health‑concerned diner wince. In one kitchen, cockroaches were crawling inside a refrigerator – a clear sign of neglect. Several places were storing meat in haphazard conditions, leading to the discovery of rotten cuts and improper chilling. Other red flags included the use of harmful colourants, low‑grade spices, and sweets that had long since crossed their expiry dates.

Most of the affected outlets are not tiny stalls but fairly large operations, which makes the findings all the more alarming. "This has been a real eye‑opener for us," Pandey said, adding that the city’s food‑safety landscape needs a serious overhaul.

The municipal effort dovetails with a broader state‑wide push. The West Bengal Department of Health and Family Welfare has already inspected over 5,000 food premises across the state, with 5,439 establishments checked up to September 7. Their report flags major irregularities in the vast majority of those sites, underscoring how widespread the problem is.

For now, the suspended establishments have a narrow window to remedy the gaps. Failure to comply could see the licences revoked altogether, a move that would send a strong message to every vendor that cutting corners on hygiene is no longer acceptable in Kolkata.