TG SAFE suspended FSSAI licenses of 7 KFC and 2 Domino's Pizza outlets in Hyderabad on 12 November 2026 for violations including pest infestation, expired food, and illegal oil-filtering chemicals.
The Telangana Standards Authority for Food and Essential Drugs (TG SAFE) suspended the FSSAI licenses of nine quick-service restaurant outlets in Hyderabad on 12 November 2026 after joint inspections by Food Safety Officers and police personnel uncovered multiple violations under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
TG SAFE is Telangana's state-level food and drug regulatory body, operating under the broader FSSAI framework. On Thursday, 13 enforcement teams inspected 26 outlets belonging to two chains: KFC (operated in India by Sapphire Foods India Ltd and Devyani International Ltd, both Yum! Brands franchisees) and Domino's Pizza (operated by Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd). Nine of those 26 outlets failed inspection badly enough to warrant immediate license suspension.
What the inspectors found
The violations documented across the nine suspended outlets were not minor paperwork gaps. Inspectors recorded cockroach and housefly infestation, rat droppings in storage areas, fungal growth on walls, greasy and unclean food preparation equipment, and expired food products still in use. The finding that drew the most regulatory attention was the unauthorised use of synthetic magnesium silicate to filter used cooking oil.
Magnesium silicate is a white powder used industrially as an oil-filtering agent. Under FSSAI regulations, cooking oil can only be reused within defined limits for polar compounds (the standard cap is 25% total polar compounds). Using magnesium silicate to strip degradation byproducts from heavily used oil is a way to make old, unsafe oil appear fresher than it is. The practice does not restore the oil's nutritional or safety profile; it masks deterioration. TG SAFE seized approximately 52 kg of synthetic magnesium silicate across the inspected outlets and collected 20 food samples for adulteration testing. Lab results from those samples have not been made public yet.
The specific outlets whose licenses were suspended are:
- KFC at Madinaguda-Miyapur, Sindhi Colony, Charminar, Moosarambagh, Banjara Hills, Shilpa Kala Vedika (Hitec City), and Inorbit Mall (Madhapur)
- Domino's Pizza at Sarath City Mall (Kondapur) and Inorbit Mall (Madhapur)
Why this matters for anyone eating out in Hyderabad
These are not fringe or informal eateries. KFC and Domino's are two of the highest-footfall QSR chains in India, with standardised supply chains and corporate food safety protocols. The fact that nine outlets across both brands failed on basic hygiene indicators simultaneously points to a systemic gap between written SOPs and actual kitchen practice.
The magnesium silicate issue is particularly relevant for health-conscious consumers. Repeatedly reused cooking oil, even when filtered, accumulates acrolein, aldehydes, and trans fats at levels above what fresh oil contains. FSSAI's Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations set limits on oil reuse, but enforcement at the outlet level has historically been inconsistent. This action suggests TG SAFE is now testing for the chemical workarounds, not just the end-product polar compound levels.
TG SAFE has said it will share the list of nine suspended establishments with Swiggy and Zomato for delisting until licenses are restored. That step matters because a physical closure does not automatically remove an outlet from delivery platforms, and consumers ordering online would otherwise have no way to know a location is operating under suspension.
Beyond the nine suspensions, TG SAFE issued improvement notices to eight additional outlets: four Domino's branches at Nizampet, Miyapur, Himayatnagar, and Malakpet, and four KFC branches at Kondapur, Karkhana, Himayatnagar, and Shaikpet. Those outlets will face reinspection to verify they have corrected the cited problems. Show-cause notices, which can lead to financial penalties, are going to five more outlets: three Domino's locations at Karkhana, Gachibowli, and Hitec City, and two KFC locations at Nizampet and Gachibowli.
In total, 22 of the 26 inspected outlets received some form of regulatory action. That is a high ratio and suggests the problems were not isolated to a handful of poorly managed locations.
What you should do as a consumer
If you regularly order from KFC or Domino's in Hyderabad, check whether your usual outlet is on the suspended list before placing an order. The nine suspended locations are named above. Swiggy and Zomato have been asked to delist them, but platform updates can lag behind regulatory orders by hours or days.
For the outlets under improvement notices, TG SAFE has not announced a reinspection timeline. Until those results are public, there is no independent confirmation that conditions have changed.
More broadly, this action is a reminder that FSSAI license display (required by law at every food business) is a starting point, not a guarantee. A license in good standing means the outlet met standards at its last inspection, not necessarily today. Consumers can file complaints directly with FSSAI through its Food Safety Connect app or the 1800-11-4420 helpline if they observe hygiene violations at any licensed outlet.
For those who prefer to cook at home partly for this reason, checking cooking oil quality is straightforward: fresh oil should be pale yellow, odourless when cold, and should not smoke heavily at moderate heat. Oil that darkens quickly, foams, or smells acrid has degraded and should be discarded, not filtered and reused.