Coimbatore café sealed for selling alcohol-based desserts

A café in Coimbatore’s PN Palyam area was sealed on Thursday following complaints that the establishment was selling desserts mixed with alcohol. According to an official announcement by Ma Subramanian,the state minister for Health, Health Education and Family Welfare, the complaint was received on October 20. Based on the complaint the cafe was sealed by the Department of Food Safety and Drugs Administration.

The official statement said that a team from the department discovered two alcohol bottles in the store room of Rolling Dough Café. It added that expired food products were discovered and that the establishment had flies everywhere, in addition to the water used for cooking being improperly treated. Further, the announcement also said that the staff were not masked correctly according to COVID-19 regulations and that poor sanitation was being maintained. Additionally, it appears that according to the inspection team, the license obtained from the Department of Food Safety and Drugs Administration was not found to be on display as it should have been. The inspection team was headed by food safety officer Dr Tamilselvan.

Speaking to the media, Tamilselvan said that the proprietor had told the inspection team that the alcohol was kept for some varieties of desserts served at Rolling Dough Café. Tamilselvan added that the proprietor’s response has been recorded and will be considered. He also said that food samples from the cafe have been sent for testing and that further action will be taken based on the findings. “The complainant had raised the concern that many school and college-going youngsters frequent the cafe; action was taken with this factor in mind as well,” he says. The two deserts that were mixed with alcohol are caramel custard with brandy and dark chocolate with whiskey mousse, Tamilselvan told the media. He alleged that these desserts could lead to alcohol addiction in youngsters.

In view of the inspection team’s findings, the announcement reads, necessary permissions have been revoked and the café has been sealed shut.