Worms in dish forces KFC outlet closure

Food safety officials here are puzzled by live worms found in chicken dish served ‘hot’ from a KFC outlet here, which was ordered closed on Tuesday.

“This was something we hadn’t bargained for,” D. Sivakumar, district designated food safety officer, Thiruvananthapuram, told Business Line .

‘Deep frying’ in ‘suitably high temperatures’ is what commonly one associates with products from KFC and other eateries of its ilk. But that regimen is not always being followed, food safety officials said.

Faulty process

According to Sivakumar, the process employed at the KFC outlet here is that the deep and long-frozen flesh is taken out and allowed to thaw for some time.

This is then marinated with some in-house preparation. Full thawing process is sometimes given the go-by, and the flesh subjected to grilling to around 70 deg centigrade only.

Even this process may not last longer than two to three minutes. The ‘outer crust’ gets suitably cooked and gives out the impression of suitably appealing dish.

The truth – as did the squiggling worms of a colour same as the chicken flesh – lay deep within.

COMPLAINT FILED

Action against the eatery came after a complaint by a customer who discovered worms in a ‘fiery chicken’ dish bought from the outlet.

The complaint was from an NRI who had come to dine with his wife, son and two relatives. He later contacted the food safety officials even as the KFC staff pleaded against lodging a complaint.

A team of officials arrived at the scene and collected samples. They carried out a search and stumbled on stale food items, prompting a temporary closure notice.

It is learnt that the outlet sources the meat from Coimbatore and it is kept in deep freeze for months before being served. Faulty refrigeration must have festered the worms, it is learnt.

vinson.kurian@thehindu.co.in

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