Hyderabad food safety crackdown: major violations found in restaurant inspections

Five restaurants in Hyderabad's Kondapur, Gachibowli, and Madinaguda localities were found with cockroach infestations, rat droppings, stale cooked food, and continuously reused cooking oil during surprise inspections by the Cyberabad Municipal Corporation (CMC) food safety teams on July 4, 2026.

The CMC teams covered Wah Mandi (Kondapur), Mandi King (Gachibowli), Firewater Fine Dining Bar, Am Aha Kitchen and Bar (Madinaguda), and Kake Di Hatti (Madinaguda) in a single day. The inspections are part of a continuing series of raids across Cyberabad that have already flagged violations at Zomato Hyperpure's Kukatpally facility and a Zepto warehouse, among others.

What the inspectors found

At Wah Mandi in Kondapur, officials discarded stale mandi, boiled eggs, and chicken wings on the spot. Raw and cooked meat were stored together, vegetarian and non-vegetarian items were not separated, and the utensil washing area had no hot water sanitisation. Walls and ceilings in the vegetable cutting section were flaking.

Mandi King in Gachibowli had the most documented oil violation. A food handler confirmed to inspectors that cooking oil had been reused continuously for four days. Under FSSAI's Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, repeated frying degrades oil into harmful polar compounds and trans fats, and reuse beyond recommended limits is a prosecutable offence. The kitchen also had a greasy exhaust system, rusted doors, a heavy fly infestation, and raw material handling, cutting, and cooking all happening in the same confined, wet workspace.

Firewater Fine Dining Bar had cockroaches in the store area, rat droppings on the premises, rust inside the freezer, raw chicken stored directly in the freezer without wrapping, and open dustbins inside the kitchen. Am Aha Kitchen and Bar in Madinaguda had an almost identical list: cockroach infestation, rat droppings, rust in the freezer, unwrapped raw chicken, and open dustbins.

At Kake Di Hatti in Madinaguda, inspectors found cooked cauliflower with visible mould growth, which was discarded immediately. Boiled vegetables were stored uncovered on the floor near the washing area. Prepared food items had no labels, raw materials sat in unlabelled containers, and food waste and stagnant water had collected near the drains.

Why this matters

These are not minor paperwork failures. Rat droppings and cockroach infestations indicate active pest colonies in food preparation and storage areas, a direct route for Salmonella, Leptospira, and E. coli contamination. Mould on cooked vegetables signals temperature mismanagement: cooked food left in the danger zone (5°C to 60°C) long enough for fungal growth. Four-day-old frying oil produces acrolein and acrylamide at elevated levels, both of which are associated with cellular damage in repeated dietary exposure.

The CMC raids are part of a broader pattern. Earlier inspections at Gachibowli's Shah Ghouse restaurant flagged houseflies and poor housekeeping. Zomato Hyperpure's Kukatpally facility was found with expired food items. A Zepto warehouse had a cockroach infestation and an expired FSSAI licence. The pattern across both dine-in restaurants and supply-chain warehouses suggests the problem is not isolated to a single operator type.

CMC has not yet published the formal show-cause notices or penalty orders from the July 4 raids. It is not yet confirmed whether any of the five restaurants have been temporarily shut or whether samples have been sent for laboratory analysis.

What diners should do

The violations at these five restaurants are now public record. Anyone who has eaten at Wah Mandi (Kondapur), Mandi King (Gachibowli), Firewater Fine Dining Bar, Am Aha Kitchen and Bar (Madinaguda), or Kake Di Hatti (Madinaguda) recently and experienced gastrointestinal symptoms should consult a doctor and can file a complaint with FSSAI through the Food Safety Connect app or the 1800-11-4000 helpline.

Before eating at any restaurant, you can check whether the establishment holds a valid, current FSSAI licence by searching the FoSCoS public portal using the restaurant's name or FSSAI number, which should be displayed at the premises. An expired or absent licence is itself a violation.

For home cooks, the oil reuse finding at Mandi King is a useful prompt. Cooking oil should not be reused more than two or three times for deep frying, and it should be discarded immediately if it darkens, smokes at lower temperatures than usual, or develops a rancid smell. Polar compound test strips, available at some kitchen supply stores, can give a rough reading of oil degradation.

The CMC has been posting inspection photos and findings on its official X account (@CMC_Offcl). Following that account gives Hyderabad residents near-real-time updates on which establishments have been flagged, without waiting for press coverage.