Ahmedabad: Expired food items and mouldy vegetables prompted the civic body to seal the canteen at St Xavier’s Loyola Hall in Naranpura on Tuesday. Officials said the canteen workers were not wearing caps, aprons or gloves, while dirt was found inside a refrigerator.According to an AMC official, the canteen also lacked a valid FSSAI licence or registration.After taking action against panipuri stalls, restaurants and dairies for various food safety and hygiene violations, AMC has turned its eye on school canteens.The civic body’s food and health department inspected five school canteens on Tuesday. Besides St Xavier’s Loyola, teams inspected the canteens at Podar International School and Asian Global School in Chandkheda, Adani International School in Makarba, and Udgam School in Thaltej.The AMC will conduct intensive inspections of canteens operating in schools, colleges, hospitals and hostels across Ahmedabad in the coming days.AMC also sealed Shree Jay Jalaram Khaman House in Isanpur after a total polar compounds test found that the cooking oil used there had a TPC level of 39.5%, well above the permitted limit of 25%.Under food safety regulations, cooking oil with TPC levels above 25% cannot be reused for preparing food. Repeated heating triggers oxidation, hydrolysis, and other chemical degradation processes. It also increases the concentration of harmful polar compounds. AMC shut the unit down after the test result crossed the prescribed limit.
