If you are a vegetarian visiting Chennai, then you’ve had food at the Murugan Idli Shop. Heck, if you’re a non-vegetarian in Chennai, you’ve been there, because it’s so good. But, you might be in for some bad news.

The Indian Express

The Food Safety Department of Tamil Nadu has suspended the license of the central kitchen of the restaurant for having an unhygienic kitchen.

According to The Indian Express, the officials suspended the license after the restaurant failed to rectify the many problems pointed out by the department during an earlier inspection. This kitchen, located inside Ambattur Industrial Estate, supplies food to around 23 branches in Chennai city.

NDTV Food

During the inspection, the officials had found out that there were some serious problems with their hygiene standards, like flooring damages in the washing area, the temperature in the refrigerator not being maintained properly, failure to vaccinate and provide clean caps and gloves to its staff, lack of pest control inside the kitchen among other things. 

Trip Advisor

The officials had then informed the restaurant of these issues and given them time to rectify but since they were not addressed, the department had also issued a show-cause notice to them. 

Awesome Machi

The department, however, stated that the restaurant had neglected these notices and continued serving food in said conditions. This finally resulted in the department visiting the premises on Tuesday and announcing the suspension of their license. 

An official from the department’s Tiruvallur division told Indian Express

We had visited the kitchen around 40 days ago and raised red flags on the kitchen’s hygiene standards to the manager. We gave him time to rectify the same but he has not complied with the rules. We then issued a show-cause notice to the manager but he has not submitted any reports or taken any action. Based on this, we have suspended operations. 

This finally resulted in the department visiting the premises on Tuesday and announcing the suspension of their license.