Hyderabad: After checks carried out on the quality of meat served in hotels and restaurants, civic health officials have cracked down on eating places for lapses in general hygiene. So far 25 hotels have been inspected and 23 were fined for not conforming to the required rules of hygiene. The checks did not cover roadside eateries or hawkers but upmarket restaurants. They were found to be using banned plastic bags while the condition of the kitchens and storage areas was found to be unbelievably bad, health officials said.

At Saba Hotel in Moosapet, stale chicken and mutton was stored, which attracted a fine of Rs 10,000. Inspections were carried out at Golden Restaurant and Bar, Swetha Restaurant and Bar and Durga Restaurant and Bar, at Grand 360 Hotel, and Sidney and Ahar restaurants in and around Alwal. The inspecting team imposed a compounding fee of almost Rs 50,000, all together against the hotel managements for lapses that include using unstamped meat, maintaining unhygienic premises and using plastic bags below 50 microns.

Pride of Hyderabad was fined Rs 20,000 for poor maintenance of the kitchen, unhygienic conditions, and purchasing unstamped meat. Pebbles Bars was fined Rs 2,000 for not submitting the receipts of stamped meat.