Hotel and Restaurant Industry Urges Govt to Expose Rotten Meat Trade Link After Srinagar Seizure
Food Safety Department Srinagar Drug and Food Control Organisation (DFCO) officials on Thursday raided a storage facility in Zakura Industrial Estate in Srinagar outskirts.
Published : August 1, 2025 at 11:01 PM IST
Srinagar:A day after the Jammu and Kashmir Food Safety Department seized 1,200 kilograms of rotten meat that was being supplied to food outlets, the hotel and restaurant sector demanded that the trade link behind the export of the rotten meat to the Valley be exposed.
Asif Siddiqui, joint secretary of Kashmir Hotel and Restaurant Owners' Association told ETV Bharat that the government must launch a crackdown on these 'unscrupulous' traders, who are exporting rotten meat to the Valley.
Siddiqui said this rotten meat will impact the economy of the hotel and restaurant industry in Kashmir, as consumers and visitors will suspect the food and cuisine being served to them. "We demand that the entire chain of this illegal and unscrupulous trade be unravelled and that legal action be taken. Such illegal trade will bring disrepute to our hotel industry,” he said.
Food Safety Department Srinagar Drug and Food Control Organisation (DFCO) officials on Thursday raided a storage facility in Zakura Industrial Estate in Srinagar outskirts, where they found 1200 kilograms of spoiled meat being supplied to hotels and restaurants.
Hilal Ahmad Mir, Assistant Commissioner Food Safety, told ETV Bharat that the meat was exported from a trader in Ghazipore in Uttar Pradesh to Sunshine Foods in Zakura Industrial Estate.
The owner of Sunshine Foods didn't reply to the repeated calls from ETV Bharat. Official sources said the meat was brought in a storage truck to Kashmir and sold to another trader in Srinagar's Batmaloo area. “Only 1200 kgs were seized after the Food Safety officials got a tip-off. The rest of the meat brought in the storage truck went to the market,” sources told ETV Bharat.
Mir said they are investigating the whole chain and will take action against all those who are involved in it. He said the trader had failed to maintain an optimal temperature system necessary for keeping meat under safety control.
Meat and fish, exported from outside states, are consumed in large quantities in food outlets, including hotels and restaurants in the Kashmir valley. The seizure of rotten meat has raised food and health safety concerns among the people. “The government should not take this seizure as a one-off incident. They should investigate this whole trade and ensure the safety of the consumers,” Naveed Bukhtiyar, a lawyer and social activist, told ETV Bharat.
Meanwhile, the Food Safety Wing of the Drugs and Food Control Organisation fined 44 street vendors for violating the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA). “Items deemed unfit for consumption were destroyed on-site. Vendors were warned against the use of non-food-grade utensils and newspapers for food preparation or packaging. The department remains committed to safeguarding public health and will continue such drives in the future,” said Mir.
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