A Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) outlet at MG Road, Thiruvananthapuram, was closed down on Monday after a customer complained of worms in the chicken served to his family.
Shiju, a resident of Palode, told Deccan Chronicle that his family found worms when they broke open a chicken piece to eat.
"We had ordered fried chicken. As my wife opened the cover to give chicken piece to our 18-month-old baby, we were shocked to see worms creeping inside. When we examined the chicken closely, we found more worms," Deccan Chronicle quoted Shiju as saying.
The KFC staff offered fresh chicken and begged the family not to inform food safety officials but Shiju went ahead to file a complaint. The staff even tried to snatch away the worm-infested chicken piece and threatened to throw his family out of the restaurant.
D. Sivakumar, designated officer of food safety, confirmed that the chicken piece did have worms. He and his team collected samples of food items that were packed in April from the outlet.
"Initially one of our officers went there and found the complaint was genuine. Later I led a team and examined the food which was served. We spotted worms,'' Sivakumar told DC. He added that raw chicken are allowed to be stored up to nine months if the temperature is maintained at 18 degree celsius.
Following the incident, the food safety officials inspected KFC outlets in Kochi, Kozhikode and Trivandrum.
Penalties for Offence According to the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006:
The government of India passed the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, to consolidate the laws relating to food and to establish the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India to ensure quality of food and deal with matters relating to it.
Guidelines Acccording to the Act:
1) Any person, who whether by himself or by any other person on his behalf, manufactures for sale or stores or sells or distributes or imports any article of food for human consumption which is sub-standard, shall be liable to a penalty which may extend to ₹5 lakh.
2) Any person whether by himself or by any other person on his behalf manufactures for sale or stores or sells or distributes or imports any article of food for human consumption containing extraneous matter, shall be liable to a penalty which may extend to ₹1 lakh.
3) If a food business operator or importer without reasonable ground, fails to comply with the requirements of this Act (Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006) or the rules or regulations or orders as directed by the Food Safety Officer, he shall be liable to a penalty which may extend to ₹2 lakh.
