Unhygienic pani poori unit shut

TRICHY: A

food safety

department raid at a residence-cum-manufacturing unit of pani poori at Mela Devadhanam has exposed unhygienic conditions, use of reused cooking oil and fungus-affected vegetables.


A team led by the designated officer (DO), food safety and drug administration department, Dr R Chithra, barged into the building on Thursday morning and sealed it on finding the dismal conditions inside.

Three people involved in the manufacture of the popular snack had been supplying it to about 100 street vendors every day.

“Unsanitary atmosphere of the area completely polluted the making of pani poori which was also kept on dirty clothes and mats. We found rats inside the house. It was also a residence which doubled up as a manufacturing unit which is completely illegal,” the DO told TOI.

The team found that Kamal Singh, Raju and Shiva, all from Uttar Pradesh, were making pani poori on the premises — where they also resided — for 25 years now.

Being one of the most preferred dishes among the local people, pani poori is being sold by wayside vendors who boasted a good customer base.

Chithra said that the trio feigned ignorance about the hygienic ways to prepare food items and hence were issued a notice allowing them to rectify the discrepancies in 15 days if they wanted to continue with their business.

“If they are found violating the instructions by operating from somewhere else, they will be penalised,” said Dr Chithra.

The department also revealed that the team had raided a samosa manufacturing unit run by one Ramesh at Beema Nagar on December 2.

“The way the snack was prepared was highly unhygienic. The vegetables were fungal infected, the oil was recycled and the sanitation was very bad.

The unit

was sealed,” said Chithra adding that samosas prepared in this unit were supplied to several shops in the city.