Kitchen Nightmares: Has Telangana Found a Match for Celebrity Chef Gordon Ramsay? We Say Yes

Did you ever watch celebrity chef and reality TV star Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares? The UK chef who has three Michelin stars and runs a fine dining restaurant chain across continents is seen swearing, shouting, hurling abuses at kitchen staff, managers and owners across the United States where he would often find dirty refrigerators, maggot infested raw meat, food ingredients stored beyond expiry date and staff with harrowing hygiene standards in this series that ran over several successful seasons on American TV.

Why are we discussing the British star today? Well, Commissioner of Food Safety in Telangana looks like India’s answer to Ramsay as his teams rummage through kitchens of famous eateries in Hyderabad and other parts of the state known for its biryani among other food stuff. Their raids have ensnared the likes of Rameshwaram Cafe, Karachi Bakery, Big Basket, Baskin Robins and Naturals Ice Cream among many others.

An angry response by the Rameshwaram Cafe owner went viral where he is seen accepting that there were mistakes made by his staff and won’t be repeated. But netizens have been quick to point out that for the premium ingredients (and vegetables…what are premium vegetables people are asking) that the Rameshwaram Cafe uses in their food, the quality has not been up to the mark and prices are certainly sky high. Rameshwaram Cafe may have been a big name in Bengaluru, but certainly not in Hyderabad, looking at the response by the X users.

In the social media posts that have generated tremendous attention over the last two weeks, the teams and squads sent by Telangana Commissioner of Food Safety are finding what was known to us for decades but hardly ever acted upon by the powers that be. The pictures and videos that the official X handle of the CFS Telangana has been posting, will make you think twice about the food you order from your favourite restaurants.

So what has CFS, Telangana found so far in their raids?

1. Poor hygiene conditions, staff rarely wearing hair caps, no medical records
2. Cockroaches, rats, insects around kitchen and storage areas
3. Expired, fungal infested food items not fit for human consumption
4. Unlabelled raw material
5. No proper logs of re-used cooking oil
6. No license, registration
7. Violation of FSSAI Act

So far, there is only one outlet that seems to have complied with the standards set by the authorities- Paradise Food Court in Masab Tank. This is what the authorities found

1. All the materials, Food articles were found covered, labelled properly as per FSSAI regulations.
2.  Pest control records are maintained by the FBO.
3.  Raw materials, Semi prepared and prepared Food articles were found covered and labelled properly as per FSSAI regulations.
4. The FBO was found supplying Dhaara Brand packaged water bottles and upon testing on the spot, the TDS Levels found to be 73 ppm. Samples of the said water bottles sent to lab for analysis.

     We wish all state food authorities conduct such investigations across the country. Do you agree?