Nando’s responds to report on penalty after RAB raid and our reply

Leading chain restaurant Nando’s has responded to bdnews24.com’s coverage of a raid on its Gulshan branch and a fine slapped by the executive magistrate of the Rapid Action Battalion.

“A RAB mobile court did fine a Nando’s outlet in Gulshan on June 2. However no adulterated or out-of-date food was found on the premises,” Nando’s said in a statement on Monday.

“The food item in question had an expiry date of 03 June, 2019 (we have attached a photograph of the same).”

“Therefore the reporter’s assertion that stale food was found at the Nando’s outlet is completely baseless,” Nando’s added.

However, Nando’s did not explain why the RAB team punished the company. 

Our reply:

On Sunday, a RAB mobile court fined six restaurants in Dhaka’s Gulshan, including Nando’s and Khazana, Tk 2 million for serving stale and unhealthy food and using chemicals.

The four other eateries fined in the drive are Khana Khazana, BBQ, Spitfire and Saltz.

After his attention was drawn to the raid on Nando’s, RAB’s Executive Magistrate Sarwoer Alam, who led the drive, said his team discovered expired chicken, which was preserved in the outlet for customers.

Alam also said: “We have found quite a few torn chicken packets. Chicken preserved in torn packets isn’t edible. We have also found some torn sauce sachets, which Nando’s should have discarded.”

The RAB seized 12 to 14 kilograms of chicken from the Nando’s outlet, which is why the restaurant was fined, according to Alam.