FSSAI cracks down: Eight Hyderabad restaurants shut for serious hygiene violations

TG SAFE, the Telangana Standards Authority for Food and Essential Drugs, suspended the FSSAI licences of eight Hyderabad restaurants on September 24, 2026, and ordered the immediate closure of a ninth that was operating without any licence at all.

The action came after eight joint enforcement teams, each comprising Food Safety Officers and police personnel, swept through 15 establishments across the city in a single day. Of those 15, nine faced direct regulatory action, five received improvement notices with follow-up inspections scheduled, and one, Nexar Hoflich Food and Beverages, which operates Asaa Neo Indian Kitchen at Puppalguda, was issued a show-cause notice with further action pending.

What the inspectors found

The violations documented by TG SAFE were not minor paperwork gaps. Inspectors recorded cockroach, housefly, and rodent infestations, rat faeces on premises, expired and spoiled food in storage, poor personal hygiene among food handlers, improperly labelled food products, unclean utensils, poorly maintained drainage, and greasy exhausts and chimneys. Several outlets also had wet and untidy flooring and no adequate records for pest control or food handler health checks.

These conditions breach the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011, which require licensed food businesses to maintain hygienic premises, pest-free storage, and documented food handler health records. Operating without an FSSAI licence is a separate and more serious offence under Section 63 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, which can attract imprisonment of up to six months alongside financial penalties.

The eight establishments whose licences were suspended are:

• Aroma Multicuisine Restaurant (operated by Acsys Hospitality LLP) in Jayabheri Enclave, Gachibowli
• Aditya Restaurant and Bar at Safilguda
• Vaishnavi Darshini at Begum Bazar
• Spicy Hub (Green Treat Restaurant) at Kothapet
• Pakwan Grand Restaurant at Raidurg
• Godavari Ghumaghumalu at Hafeezpet
• Sri Krishna Family Dhaba Pure Veg at Gopanpally
• Sri Sai Mess Branch, an outlet of Babai Hotel, at Kondapur

Lucky Restaurant at Pragathinagar, Bachupally, was shut outright for operating without an FSSAI licence and for heavy cockroach infestation.

TG SAFE officials also collected 16 food samples across the inspected premises on suspicion of adulteration. Lab results have not been published yet.

Why this matters for diners and clean-label consumers

Hyderabad's food scene includes a large number of mid-range dhabas, mess-style eateries, and multi-cuisine restaurants that serve millions of meals daily. The violations found here, specifically pest infestations and expired food in active use, are not cosmetic problems. Cockroach and rodent contamination can introduce Salmonella, E. coli, and other pathogens into food. A 2023 review published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that rodent and insect contamination in food service environments is among the leading contributors to foodborne illness outbreaks in South Asia.

For readers who follow clean-label, Jain, or pure-vegetarian diets, the stakes are higher than for the average diner. Sri Krishna Family Dhaba Pure Veg at Gopanpally, for instance, markets itself as a vegetarian establishment. When pest infestations and improper storage are present, cross-contamination risks extend beyond hygiene to the integrity of the food category itself. A pure-veg claim means nothing if the kitchen shares drainage with an infested space.

The adulteration samples collected are a separate concern. FSSAI's Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011 set limits on permitted additives and prohibit adulteration outright. Until TG SAFE publishes the lab results, it is not possible to say which products were flagged or what adulterants are suspected.

What diners should do before their next visit

FSSAI maintains a public database called FoSCoS (Food Safety Compliance System) where anyone can verify whether a restaurant holds a valid, active licence. The search takes under a minute and requires only the business name or FSSAI licence number, which licensed establishments are required to display prominently at the premises.

If a licence number is not displayed at the entrance or on the menu, that is itself a red flag. Under FSSAI regulations, displaying the licence is mandatory, and its absence often signals either an expired licence or, as in the case of Lucky Restaurant at Bachupally, no licence at all.

For those who eat regularly at mess-style or dhaba-format restaurants, a few practical checks matter. Ask whether the kitchen is open for viewing. Reputable establishments in Hyderabad, particularly those catering to health-conscious or dietary-preference diners, increasingly allow this. Check whether the menu lists allergen information and ingredient sourcing. These are not legal requirements for smaller establishments yet, but their presence signals a kitchen that thinks about what goes into food.

TG SAFE has said follow-up inspections are planned for the five establishments that received improvement notices. Whether the suspended licences are reinstated will depend on those outlets demonstrating corrective action to the satisfaction of Food Safety Officers. The authority has not published a timeline for reinstatement decisions.

The 16 adulteration samples are presumably with an FSSAI-accredited laboratory. Results typically take two to four weeks. Clean Label Guide will update this article when TG SAFE releases findings.