Dining out: how safe is the food on your plate?

Eating out is part of a routine for many in Visakhapatnam, whether it is a quick lunch between work commitments or dinner with family and friends. When people walk into restaurants, they expect the food to be fresh, the premises to be clean, and the meals to be safe. But what ensures these conditions are met? Behind every dish served at a restaurant, there is a chain of processes involved, from sourcing ingredients to storing them in a safe environment at the right temperatures, before hygienically preparing and serving them to the diner.

Much of the concern centres on what customers or diners cannot see — the hygiene practices followed inside restaurant kitchens. Recently, an online complaint about the quality of a paneer dish served by a popular restaurant, known for its exclusive vegetarian menu along the city’s Beach Road stretch, prompted the Food Safety team of the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) to conduct a surprise inspection on October 13, 2026.

At first glance, everything appeared to be in order — the staff were neatly dressed, and the kitchen looked clean. But as the officials moved into the core kitchen area and pulled open the doors of the refrigerators and deep freezers, the picture changed.

Stored inside were several containers of cooked food — vegetable biryani, dal, rice, vegetable manchurian, and a variety of vegetarian starters, including samosas — that were stored at -18°C. The management allegedly intended to reheat the food and serve it to customers later.

The concern extends beyond food storage to how long it was stored and its quality. The team reportedly found gravies and some food items prepared the day before, while most of it had reportedly been prepared two or three days earlier. Instead of disposing of the stale food, the restaurant stored it for later use. According to reports, nearly 46 kgs of stale food items were found and destroyed on the spot by the officials. A case was registered against the restaurant under applicable provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and relevant rules and regulations.

The problem is not limited to one restaurant. A visit by the team to another establishment on the same lane, which opened a few months ago and became the new hotspot, raised similar concerns about food storage practices.

According to culinary enthusiasts, there is a long wait to get a table at this popular joint to savour its biryani, which costs ₹400 per plate. Yet a recent inspection allegedly revealed that chicken from the biryani was being stored separately in the refrigerator to be reheated and served with biryani the following day. Immediately after the finding, the team slapped a ₹70,000 fine and registered a case against the management.

The concerns raise a broader question about food safety standards across the city. According to food safety officials, violations are not confined to just a handful of small eateries. Medium-sized restaurants, high-end establishments, and even star-category hotels have come under scrutiny for their food safety standards.

Health and safety standards

To ensure these establishments maintain food safety standards, Joint Collector G. Vidhyadhari and GVMC Commissioner Ketan Garg have directed food safety teams to conduct surprise inspections at major hotels and restaurants across the city. In 2026 so far, cases have been booked against 128 hotels and restaurants, with fines totalling nearly ₹28 lakh imposed on the managements, according to officials.

The officials stress that stale food and poor sanitation are among the most common violations the teams come across during inspections.

GVMC Food Safety Inspector G.V. Appa Rao says that even highly rated restaurants have been found violating basic food safety practices. “The most recurring problem is the failure of restaurant management to estimate the quantity of food required for a day’s business. The tendency to cook more than demand often results in surplus food, and instead of disposing of it appropriately, some establishments store it for subsequent use,” he adds.