A glaring contradiction has emerged in Hyderabad's food safety landscape. While official data reveals a shockingly low rate of food safety violations—less than 1% of samples tested—the city simultaneously witnessed over 8,000 reported cases of acute gastroenteritis in 2025, with contaminated food and water being the primary culprits. This stark disparity between reported illnesses and inspection results points to a deep-seated crisis in monitoring and enforcement.
The Data Disconnect: Clean Chits Amidst a Health Crisis
According to figures from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), food safety officials carried out 9,656 inspections across restaurants, hostels, and street food stalls in the past year. From these inspections, 3,600 food samples were collected for laboratory analysis. The results appeared remarkably positive, with only 65 samples found to be in violation of safety norms, translating to a mere 0.7% failure rate.
However, this clean statistical picture is shattered by public health records. The same period saw more than 8,000 cases of acute gastroenteritis linked to contaminated consumables. The human cost has been severe, with at least three fatalities and hundreds of hospitalisations attributed to food poisoning. The enforcement actions also seem disproportionately low, with total penalties collected amounting to just Rs 14 lakh for the entire year.
Experts Decry Flawed System and Severe Staff Shortage
Public health experts unanimously argue that the official statistics fail to reflect the grim reality on the ground. They suggest significant gaps in sampling methodology, enforcement rigor, and follow-up actions. "When hospitals report frequent cases of food poisoning, but inspections reveal few violations, it clearly indicates systemic failures," a senior public health expert noted.
Nutritionist Deepa Agarwal, founder of Nutriclinic in Hyderabad, explained the common causes: "Food contamination typically stems from unsafe handling, improper storage, pest infestation, unclean kitchens, and cross-contamination. In busy commercial kitchens, lapses in temperature control and hygiene can quickly render food dangerous."
The situation is critically exacerbated by a severe staff shortage within the food safety department. Currently, a mere 16 Food Safety Officers (FSOs) are tasked with regulating the entire city, spread across 30 GHMC circles. This tiny team is responsible for overseeing a vast and complex network of over 70,000 eateries, ranging from cloud kitchens and fine-dining restaurants to street vendors and hostels.
An Overburdened System and the Path Forward
The absence of assistant FSOs and dedicated administrative staff forces these officers to juggle inspections, sampling, documentation, court cases, and public grievances simultaneously. This overwhelming workload inevitably leads to inspections that are limited in both scope and frequency, allowing many establishments to evade proper scrutiny.
While food safety officials maintain that inspections follow protocol and that enforcement includes improvement notices and legal proceedings, the outcomes tell a different story. With Hyderabad's food ecosystem expanding rapidly, experts warn that foodborne illnesses will continue to recur unless inspections become more rigorous, randomised, and transparent.
The recent incidents of poisoning in schools and hostels have highlighted persistent issues like improper storage and contaminated water. The solution, according to observers, lies in addressing the crippling manpower shortage, modernising inspection protocols, and ensuring greater accountability to bridge the dangerous gap between official data and public health reality.
