Food hygiene must come before restaurant ambience, says Karnataka health minister

At the India Today Roundtable in Karnataka, Health and Family Welfare Minister U.T. Khader Fareed spoke about the state's push for food hygiene, inspections of restaurants and clubs, and why customers should look beyond ambience.Karnataka Health Minister U.T. Khader Fareed explains why food hygiene checks must apply to every establishment, from five-star hotels and clubs to Indira Canteens. (Image from India Today Round Table, Karnataka)Karnataka is stepping up its focus on food hygiene, and Health and Family Welfare Minister U.T. Khader Fareed says the rules should apply equally to every establishment. Speaking at the India Today Roundtable in Karnataka, the minister was asked about the state's food safety drive and whether establishments such as Indira Canteens, hotels and clubs could face action if serious hygiene violations are found. His answer was clear: the government is not against restaurants, hotels or clubs, but it wants people to get safe and hygienic food wherever they eat. He also urged customers to look beyond a restaurant's appearance and pay attention to what happens inside its kitchen.‘PEOPLE OF KARNATAKA ARE IMPORTANT’Asked whether establishments could be shut down or licences suspended if violations such as cockroaches being found in food were reported, Khader said the identity or scale of an establishment did not matter.“Whether it's a five-star hotel, whether Indira Canteen or whether big clubs, not important for me. People of Karnataka is important.”U.T. Khader Fareed, Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Government of Karnataka, said everyone eating at these establishments should be able to expect healthy food. The minister questioned why customers readily negotiate prices at shops but rarely question hygiene when eating out.“Why can't you keep a hygienic kitchen and go to the storage and the healthy food in Bangalore city. One kilometer going, all shops will get. Why can't you get fresh items?”‘SEE THE KITCHEN ALSO’ Khader was also asked about Maharashtra officer Tukaram Munde's food safety inspections and his approach towards restaurants and other establishments.The minister said anyone doing good work to improve food hygiene should be welcomed.“Anyone doing good work is very nice. But we are not against all these establishments.”He said hotels, clubs and other establishments are important for the development of Karnataka and the country. However, he wants them to examine their own systems and make customers more aware of food hygiene.“We want such people. We want such intuition, hotels and clubs. Everything is needed for the development of the state and this country.”‘DON'T SEE JUST THE AMBIANCE’For Khader, food safety cannot be judged by how expensive or attractive a restaurant looks.“We want to show them what is going on in their system, and we want to the people awareness don't see just the ambiance or the building or your dining table. See, please let us see the kitchen also.”He said the message also applies to clubs, where customers may focus on appearances rather than the conditions in which food is prepared.“When the people come to your club, don't see their feet whether they got a shoes or chapel or a coat or doti, you see your kitchen first. Then you decide on rest all the things.”For Karnataka's health minister, the takeaway from the state's food hygiene push is straightforward: before judging a food establishment by its ambience, look at the kitchen.- EndsPublished By: vaishnavi parasharPublished On: Aug 26, 2026 16:28 IST