Health department seals City Centre KFC after consumer complaint
Mangaluru: A KFC outlet at City Centre in Mangaluru was sealed by food safety officials following a consumer complaint that a Chicken Peri Peri Leg ordered online was stale and tasted bad, India Today reported on Sunday. The action follows a surprise inspection carried out under the direction of Karnataka Health Minister U T Khader.
Officials from the Food Safety Division inspected the outlet’s kitchen, storeroom, cold-storage facility and deep freezer, and checked stocks of fried and cooked chicken before sealing the premises. Samples collected during the inspection have been dispatched to a laboratory for analysis. Further action will be decided on the basis of the laboratory findings, Khader said, according to the report.
"Based on the laboratory report, we will take action under the Food Safety and Standards regulations," Khader said, as reported.
The inspection in Mangaluru forms part of a broader food-safety drive launched by the Karnataka Food Safety and Drug Administration Department that targets hotels, restaurants, resorts and public food facilities across the state. Khader said the drive would continue and urged consumers to report suspected violations.
- Outlet inspected at City Centre, Mangaluru; sealed after complaint.
- Samples taken and sent to a laboratory; action pending test results.
- Statewide inspections ordered by Health Minister U T Khader as part of intensified food-safety drive.
Khader stressed that the regulations permit certain products to be stored for specified periods at defined temperatures, but said establishments should inform customers about storage durations. "If a company is serving chicken stored for one, two or three months, that should be declared to the customer. It is then the customer’s decision whether to consume it," he was reported as saying.
In response to the inspection, the multinational fast-food chain issued a clarification on Monday denying that the circulating information reflected the true facts, Hindustan Times reported. KFC said the chicken served and stored at its restaurants is maintained as per prescribed norms and is prepared in-store every day.
In its statement, KFC said it sources chicken from reputed suppliers, complies with FSSAI guidelines and certain global quality standards, and subjects each piece to "multiple stringent quality and safety checks from the suppliers' farm to the consumers' plate," the Hindustan Times report said. The company said it was cooperating with the authorities and reviewing the matter in line with legal and regulatory requirements, and invited customers to contact the restaurant manager for a kitchen tour if they sought more information.
| Action | Details |
|---|---|
| Complaint | Customer alleged stale Chicken Peri Peri Leg ordered online |
| Inspection | Kitchen, storeroom, cold storage, deep freezer and cooked/fried stocks checked |
| Samples | Collected and sent for laboratory analysis |
| Immediate action | Outlet sealed; further action based on lab report |
Officials also indicated that the Mangaluru inspection is one of several actions taken statewide in recent days. The drive has produced seizures in other districts, with authorities seizing expired or unfit food items from hospitality establishments as they intensify checks to enforce hygiene and food-quality norms.
The sealing of the City Centre outlet and the minister’s directives underline the state government’s emphasis on consumer safety and transparency in food handling. Local consumers and hospitality operators in Dakshina Kannada now face heightened scrutiny as the Food Safety Division continues inspections across urban and tourist hubs.
The outcome of the laboratory tests on the samples collected from the Mangaluru outlet will determine whether enforcement action under the Food Safety and Standards regulations is initiated against the outlet, officials said.
Reporting in this dispatch cites India Today for the inspection and ministerial remarks, and Hindustan Times for the statement issued by KFC.
