Three Chinese food businesses operating in Colombo have been fined a total of Rs 444,000 over 148 violations of food safety regulations, the Maligakanda Magistrate’s Court ruled on Friday.
The fines followed legal action brought by the Colombo Municipal Council on the basis of inspections by its Public Health Inspectors, the Daily Mirror reported.
What inspectors found
The businesses are two Chinese restaurants operating inside a popular Colombo shopping mall and an ice cream company.
During surprise inspections, Public Health Inspectors found imported food products being sold and used for consumption without proper labels, as well as stocks of expired food items at the establishments. The CMC then began proceedings against the companies running the restaurants.
How the fines break down
The two restaurants were fined a combined Rs 360,000 after being found guilty on 120 charges relating to food safety violations.
The filing gives the restaurants’ figures and the three-business totals but not the ice cream company’s separately. On the stated numbers, the remaining business accounts for Rs 84,000 and 28 charges — a figure derived by subtraction here, not one reported by the Daily Mirror.
Not reported
The filing does not name the three businesses or the shopping mall, does not say when the inspections took place, and does not specify which regulations the 148 charges were brought under. It does not say whether the businesses pleaded guilty, whether any were ordered to close or suspend operations, or what happened to the expired and unlabelled stock. It gives no indication of whether the three cases arose from a single coordinated operation.