Catering unit found serving food to Railways sealed after health officials seize stale food from kitchen

The Hindu

14-05-2025

The health wing of the Kochi Corporation raided and sealed a catering unit reportedly serving food on trains, including Vande Bharat, near Kadavanthra here, after finding large quantities of stale food and its kitchen in unhygienic condition on Wednesday (May 14, 2025).
Brindavan Food Products operating in the Elamkulam division of the Kochi Corporation had been under the health wing's scanner for a few months following public complaints and had been served multiple notices before. It was found to be operating without the requisite licence issued by the Corporation.
The latest action followed a complaint by residents of a colony in the vicinity of the catering unit on Tuesday (May 13, 2025) night. They complained of unbearably bad odour from a godown and the workers' quarters in the neighbourhood of the firm.
'We found nearly 50 kg of stale chicken, seemingly months old, in the godown. It was almost impossible to stand anywhere nearby. Those in charge of the firm took it away after spraying disinfectant. I also asked the health inspector to take immediate action, following which the canteen was raided today [Wednesday],' said Antony Painuthara, Elamkulam division councillor.
The health officials found printed food containers suggesting that the catering unit supplied food on trains. 'We have sealed the unit, and a report will be filed with the Corporation secretary. They [operators] will have to obtain the licence, set up facilities for treating wastewater, and then file a fresh application with the secretary to get the firm open again,' said V.V. Suresh, senior public health inspector of the Corporation.
Reportedly, no authorised person from the catering unit was around during the raid to receive the mahazar or other relevant documents. The firm had been served with notices in the past for operating without the requisite licence and wastewater treatment plant. Wastewater and food waste were being dumped into a nearby canal linked to the Punchathodu canal. It was also fined ₹10,000 for allegedly dumping waste into the canal a month ago.
M.G. Aristotle, the United Democratic Front (UDF) parliamentary party secretary, accused the Corporation of being apathetic in tackling a serious issue like food safety. A prime example of that attitude was a mobile food quality test lab received more than a year ago under the Corporate Social Responsibility fund, lying idle, he said. Later in the day, the UDF staged a protest in front of the mobile food lab.
Railways slap fine
The Southern Railway has slapped a fine of ₹1 lakh on the catering firm, Brindavan Food Products, for lapses reported in cleanliness standards, and the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has been advised to take stringent action.
Besides, a high-level committee of senior officers comprising Divisional Commercial Manager (Thiruvananthapuram), Health Officer (Thiruvananthapuram), and Area Manager (IRCTC) has been constituted to conduct an inquiry, a release issued here said.
This, the statement said, was following media reports on supply of old/expired food by a base kitchen being run by the catering contractor of the IRCTC and the Railways near the Ernakulam station as found during inspection by health officials of the Kochi Corporation.
Though the unit was having Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) Certification licence, the Corporation authorities claimed that the Kitchen unit was operating without a commercial licence and did not have a sewage treatment plant (STP). Meanwhile, the IRCTC has said that arrangements had been made to ensure uninterrupted and hygienic food supply to passengers of mail/express trains, and major corrective steps were also being taken to maintain the standards of hygiene and food quality, the statement added.