14 March 2019 01:14 am
Popular restaurant Calorie Counter at Ward Place, Colombo 7 which targets health-conscious patrons and markets itself as such, was raided by the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) health officials on Tuesday (12) for allegedly violating food safety regulations.
A check of the freezer at the restaurant showed that food items unsuitable for human consumption had been stored inside it. The management was ordered to shut down the restaurant and told it would be allowed to re-open only after fulfilling the standards required of them by the CMC.
Apart from closure, legal action too was to be instituted against the restaurant, which was among 26 others that were also raided.
The Colombo Municipality’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr. Ruwan Wijayamuni said 68 restaurants and eating houses within the Colombo 7 and Colombo 8 areas were inspected on Tuesday.
“Twenty eight restaurants were found to have transgressed and 12 restaurants were given correctional notices. Yesterday, we conducted raids in several areas in Central Colombo including Slave Island and Maradana. We are continuing to inspect restaurants, hotels and other easting houses within the City of Colombo to make sure that they are being maintained according to the standards set. Since there is no Dengue outbreak, we are using the entire force of health department officials to conduct these raids. Six Medical Officers of Health (MoHs) and about 50 Public Health Officers (PHOs) are conducting these raids. This is a new approach we have adopted to maintain the standards of our restaurants and eating houses,” he told the Daily Mirror.
Meanwhile, Cinnamon Gardens and Borella area Medical Officer of Health (MOH) Dr. Subash Mendis said they inspected 94 eating places while court cases were filed against 32 of them. Nine restaurants had also been issued with severe warnings.
Dr. Mendis said they destroyed 182 kilos of food items such as curd, chicken and roti which were found to be unsuitable for human consumption on Tuesday (12) while 115 kilos of food items were destroyed yesterday (13). (Lahiru Pothmulla)