A KFC outlet shut down on Monday, after a customer from Palode village in Kerala found worms in the fried chicken delicacy served to him.
According to Anil Kumar, food safety commissioner, Kerala, the outlet will remain closed till the case is under investigation. Meanwhile, three other units of the company are under the scanner with food safety officers conducting raids and collecting food samples.
The incident took place on Monday when a resident of Palode, A Shiju went to the outlet along with his wife, son and two cousins and ordered fried chicken. Interestingly, the order was on the table within no time. The family was happy that the service was fast but soon was shocked to find worms in the chicken, which they had ordered. After close examination they found more worms in it and they complained to the manager of the outlet.
Shift manager at KFC, on the condition of anonymity, told FnB News, “As Shiju alerted our staff about the worms, we promised to replace his chicken with fresh piece, but he declined. He called his friend from health department and police to intimidate our staff. The food was brought from outside, it was not served by us. Some people are intentionally trying to malign our rapport.”
He admitted that acting on Shiju’s complaint, food safety officers inspected the place and collected food samples for further investigation.
Meanwhile, food safety commissioner, Kerala, said, “After getting the complaints from the customer our officers went to the outlet and inspected it. We have collected the samples and it’s under investigation.”
Shiv Kumar, district food safety officer, said, “We have inspected the place and during the inspection we found that the outlet didn't maintain adequate sanitation guidelines. Even some seized chicken was allegedly as much as five months old. Since we found the worms in the customers dish we have shut the outlet temporarily.
Further action will be taken against the KFC if the samples collected are found to be positive.”
According to the source at KFC, the chicken was sourced from Suguna Chickens, Coimbatore.
A senior official associted with Suguna Chickens, informed, “KFC not only sources chickens from Suguna but also from two other players in the industry.”
