Street stalls to legacy joints: Who’s on Kolkata food check crosshairs, and why

Old shops seek ‘fair treatment’

Matri Misthana Bhandar is owned by Shakuntala Ghosh. Speaking to The Indian Express, the owner’s son-in-law, Manas Misra said their shop was inspected on September 3, when the civic officials had asked them to conduct a water test, pest control, and maintain overall cleanliness. But days later, it was shut. The KMC had cited “unhygienic conditions in food processing” as reason for its closure.

“Ours is a very small and very old sweet shop… Naturally, its walls look old. Now, before we could work upon their instructions, we got a message that our license has been suspended. We have 4-5 labourers who work here on a daily basis. We can’t keep them engaged without any sales and have to let them go.”

While Misra says food safety is important, he feels the crackdown was “unfair”. “The action shouldn’t be limited to shops that are age-old and are small, catering to middle or lower-middle-class people. There are hundreds of shops and outlets; how many big sweet shops have been visited by the KMC, that must be seen, too…”

Legacy brand distances self

Perhaps one of the most prominent legacy brands to face the brunt of the civic body crackdown was the 141-year-old Balaram Mullick & Radharaman Mullick (BMRM). The KMC’s list of 40 suspended establishments mentioned a manufacturing unit located at 143, BL Saha Road, as owned by the legacy brand BMRM — a name which also found its mention in KMC administrator Smita Pandey’s Tuesday’s press conference where she had said that action was taken against many “big names”.

However, BMRM director Sudip Mullick has maintained that the said unit located at the BL Saha Road address had no links with their company which has 18 outlets in the city.

He said that a KMC team had visited their Salt Lake City Centre unit last week, and gave it a clean chit. There has never been any quality problem with their products, he claimed.

In an official statement released Tuesday, the company said: “The address and outlet…have no relation whatsoever with the original Balaram Mullick & Radharaman Mullick.The said establishment is not owned, operated, managed or controlled by us.”

The company is HACCP and ISO certified, and follows all norms and regulations set by the FSSAI, with in-house food laboratories for regular testing and monitoring, the statement added.

The Indian Express visited the said manufacturing unit located at the BL Saha Road address on Wednesday, where a caretaker confirmed that sweet-making operations were still continuing inside.

New shops also in net

It is not just the old shops that figure in the KMC suspension list — new shops are also under the scanner. Less than a kilometer from Dhapa road is the New Poushee Sweets, a small year-and-a-half-old shop at Hatgachia Dhapa in Ward No. 58 of the KMC area near Science City.

The owners feel the civic body did not give them enough time to comply with the norms.

Abhijit Ghosh, who runs the outlet, said, “First the KMC team came in August-end and then again on September 3. They just asked us to do a water test. The second time they told us to rectify a few things: pest control, cleanliness, and to keep the dustbins closed at all times. They had told us we could rectify all this before they visit for a third time…”

“But just a few hours ago, the police suddenly came and told us to shut our shop. They said our name was on the list of 40 shops. At least they should have pasted a notice, but no, we came to know when cops came and informed us.”

Abhijit informed that the sweets are not prepared at this shop but a manufacturing unit based in Tollygunge, from where they also supply them to several other small shops. “We are small businessmen. It is the beginning of the festive season. We were also threatened that we might be arrested if we don’t keep it shut..,” he laments.

Customers, schoolkids’ parents relieved

Outside Abhijit’s closed shop were a few women sitting and chatting.

When asked about the sudden closure of the neighbourhood sweet shop, a local resident, Lokhi Bora said, “You take two rupees extra, but give us the right food and sweets. Don’t play with the lives of common people.” She said she welcomed the move.

A similar scene unfolded outside a small fast-food joint, KP Singh UP Wala Restaurant Fast Food Centre, which was shuttered following its suspension order.

Situated right opposite the South Point School in the Ballygunge area, its closure has given some respite to the parents of some schoolkids.

”It has just been a month and a half since this shop opened. It is good that this action has been taken; we don’t want children to get exposed to such unhygienic food,” said a school parent who wished to remain anonymous.

“The action was required. There is no accountability, anyone can feed anything to people in the name of food … If the government is serious about our health, it must be appreciated,” said a school uniform shop owner located nearby.

According to civic officials, the grounds for its suspension were: no water test report found, no chimney inside the kitchen area, raw material purchase bills missing, and FSSAI license number not mentioned on invoices.

Shop found flouting suspension

At 9, Mahendra Roy Lane, Mahaprabhu Mishtanno Bhandar was the only shop found open and selling sweets to customers despite the suspension order issued against them.

“My son is out of station… I don’t know much (about the orders)…”, says Gayatri Mal, an elderly relative of the owner, as she hands over a packet of sweets to a teenage girl who resides in the same area.

One of the labourers working at the counter said, “We have been selling sweets as our owner is not in town.”

The suspension notice served to the establishment highlighted violations including: no submission of water test report; no training certificates and medical records of food handlers; no pest control records; rat infestation; missing date tags; no segregated facility for storing vegetarian and non-vegetarian food items; among others.

Now, back to hawkers

Don Giovanni’s, among the “big names” on the KMC list, remained shut on Wednesday.

Right outside the otherwise busy outlet on the bustling Park Street sits a roadside vendor, Rajesh Shaw. Selling chana and peanuts at this spot since 1968, he says the footfall at his cart has decreased manyfold over the last few years.

“We sell boiled chana and peanuts, but the youngsters do not come to eat here. That day, I saw civic officials throwing chicken and seizing items (from other shops). Some were even rotten…. People sit in ACs, wear branded clothes, but eat rotten food,” he laments.

“The government has done a good job, but it shouldn’t be limited to just before municipal polls. There should be a campaign so people choose healthy options like chana and fresh peanuts over months-old chicken and cheese that may cost them their lives,” says Shaw, originally hailing from the Gopalganj district of Bihar.

Just a minute’s walk from Don Gioavanni’s, the famous Kareem’s restaurant at Mirza Ghalib Street in Ward 63 also remained shut on Wednesday.

Few outlets welcome move

Welcoming the move, a manager at the Park Street outlet of Arsalan Biryani said, “It’s good that the government is doing this; at least people are in fear now. They will now feed healthier food to people.” When asked why remained shut as well, he said it was on “maintenance grounds”.

Similarly, the owner of a famous New Alipore-based sweet shop said on the condition of anonymity: “Food safety is a shared responsibility. Enforcement efforts should not be focused on merely visiting restaurant premises and then just cancelling licences. There should be adequate focus on education, remediation and capacity building and awareness among people and those associated with the business.”

Their shop was given a clean chit by the officials during the inspection.

The officials had inspected 529 establishments during their week-long food safety drive. Apart from the 40 suspensions, notices were also issued to 112 establishments, the KMC informed Tuesday.