Food Safety Department officials have issued notices in the last two days to eight restaurants serving non-vegetarian dishes for violating food safety rules, including the stocking of stale meat.

The officials, led by Designate Officer (Food Safety and Drug Administration) V. Jayaramapandian, raided about 100 restaurants across the district since Wednesday. “We targeted eateries where shawarma was being served to check the quality of meat,” Dr Jayaramapandian said.

The teams found that some of the restaurants had stocked cooked chicken in refrigerators. Besides, they had used non-permitted colouring agents in the preparation of chicken. “The very purpose of people going to restaurants was to eat fresh food. However, stocking cooked chicken in refrigerators would not only defeat the purpose, but also pose danger to their health,” he said.

Around 10kg of stale chicken meat was seized and destroyed.

The officials also found that some of the restaurants lacked proper licensing and their workers did not have medical certificates to prove their fitness. “Workers could spread infections to customers,” said Dr Jayaramapandian.

Notices have been issued to these establishments, instructing them to adhere to the rules, failing which further action would be taken, he added.