A food safety inspection at Bakingo's Madhapur outlet in Hyderabad has raised questions about the shelf life of the ingredients that the outlet uses to prepare cakes.
The Telangana Standards Authority for Food and Essential Drugs (TG-SAFE) discarded 60 kg of expired cake bases during an inspection of the cloud kitchen outlet on Tuesday, November 10, as part of a special drive targeting cloud kitchens across Hyderabad, news agency ANI reported.
While the ANI did not identify the outlet, a separate report from The Siasat Daily identified the outlet as Bakingo in Madhapur. Officials allegedly found that the kitchen was using cake bases carrying an expiry date of November 10, 2026, to prepare cakes that were being sold to consumers with a stated shelf life extending until November 12.
The expired cake bases were discarded on the spot, and officials submitted an inspection report. Further action will be taken based on the findings, ANI reported, citing a TG-SAFE official.
"We inspected the premises of a cloud kitchen outlet in Madhapur and submitted the report. We discarded 60 kg of cake bases which had an expiry date of November 10, 2026. The unit was preparing cakes with these cake bases and selling them to consumers with a shelf life up to November 12, 2026," the official told ANI.
What did the inspection reveal?
The inspection was part of a special enforcement drive against cloud kitchens and restaurants in Hyderabad.
According to The Siasat Daily, Bakingo's Madhapur outlet was not among the eight establishments whose food safety licences were suspended following the inspections. However, officials confirmed the disposal of 60 kg of cake bases that had crossed their expiry date.
The inspection has brought attention to the handling of ingredients and the shelf-life declarations used by food businesses selling products to consumers.
Licences of eight cloud kitchens suspended
In a wider enforcement drive on November 10, TG-SAFE deployed 24 teams comprising food safety officers and police personnel to inspect 23 cloud kitchens and restaurants across the CURE region, The Siasat Daily reported.
The teams collected 25 food samples over suspected adulteration and discarded nearly 700 kg of spoiled and contaminated food articles.
The inspections reportedly uncovered several hygiene violations, including cockroach and rodent infestations, expired food products, fungal contamination in vegetables, clogged drains, greasy exhaust systems and improper food storage.
Eight establishments had their food safety licences suspended, while show-cause notices were issued to 10 others. Five establishments were also set to receive improvement notices.