Rameshwaram Cafe co-founder says eatery uses 'premium ingredients' after row over expired food

Raghavendra Rao, co-founder of the Bengaluru-based Rameshwaram Cafe that has recently expanded to Hyderabad. (Image credit: @vamsikaka/X)

After the Food Safety Department of Telangana found expired and mislabelled food at the Hyderabad outlet of the popular Bengaluru-based restaurant chain Rameshwaram Cafe, its co-founder has shared a clarification video on social media insisting that all the ingredients used at the eatery are "premium" in quality.

In the clip Raghavendra Rao said, "We are here to deliver the best product as promised and use the best ingredients forever. We have done little mistakes and I sincerely apologise for it. I would like to convey to the entire customers that we follow (former president) APJ Abdul Kalam's footsteps."

But Raghavendra's clarification appeared to have an opposite effect on social media users. They criticised him for his body language and said that he was "intimidating".

Video message from #RameshwaramCafe owner, after the news came out that the food inspection team found out expired products in their Madhapur branch kitchen.

What are your thoughts?? #FoodSafety pic.twitter.com/r5E1rGRlib

— Vamsi Kaka (@vamsikaka) May 26, 2024

"Why does it look like he’s intimidating us and not apologising," X user Mehtab Ansari (@Cartidise) commented, while another user Shachindra Rajavaram (@rshachindra) wrote, "His aggressive body language is not resonating with his words... its like I will take care of those who said there are expired items, but please eat in my outlet."

A third user Tiger Ramesh (@TigeRamesh) added, "Overrated place. Stopped buying from them. Too expensive and nothing great about the taste. He is blabbering in this video and makes it sound as if Shri APJ Kalam was his business partner."

The video comes about a week after the South Indian restaurant chain said they’ve launched an internal inquiry to accurately assess the situation. The Telangana food safety department said it found expired food items and open dustbins in Rameshwaram Café in the Madhapur area of the state on May 23.

Task force team has conducted inspections in the Madhapur area on 23.05.2024.

The Rameshwaram Cafe

* Urad Dal (100Kg) stock found expired in Mar'24 worth Rs. 16K

* Nandini Curd (10kg), Milk (8L) worth Rs. 700 found expired

Above items discarded on the spot.

(1/4) pic.twitter.com/mVblmOuqZk

— Commissioner of Food Safety, Telangana (@cfs_telangana) May 23, 2024

The task force, which conducted the inspections, found urad dal's 100kg stock worth Rs 16,000 that had expired in March, while Nandini curd (10kg), milk (8L) worth Rs 700 were also found expired, state’s commissioner of food safety said in a post on X. They also found ‘improperly’ labelled raw rice (450kg), while white lobia (20kg) worth Rs 26,000 and unlabeled jaggery (300kg) worth Rs 30,000 were seized, the commissioner said. During the raids, the medical fitness certificates for food handlers were also not available and dustbins were not covered properly with lids.

Rameshwaram Café, which is a famous South Indian restaurant chain, has recently expanded its quick service restaurant (QSR) network outside Bengaluru. It opened in Madhapur district of Hyderabad in January.