Hyderabad students find rat in food served at hostel mess, raises serious health concerns

After a Hyderabad resident claimed to have found a maggot in chicken biryani ordered via Swiggy last month, another incident has come to the fore. This time, students at a university in the capital city claimed to have found a rat in the food served at the mess. A video of the same has been making waves online, raising serious health concerns. HT.com couldn’t independently verify when or where the video in question was taken.

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“A rat was found in a dish in the hostel in Telangana. Scary!” reads the caption to the video shared on X.

The video shows “chutney” kept in a large container and a rat swimming in it. It also shows a few students recording the incident on their smartphones. According to reports, the video is from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) in Hyderabad’s Sultanpur.

Watch the video below:

Here’s how people reacted to this video:

“Hygiene of food in hostels is a major concern. Not that the taste is any good. If not to save some cost, nobody would like to have food in a hostel mess,” said an individual.

Another commented, “This shocking discovery highlights the administration's failure to ensure basic standards of hygiene and quality in educational institutions, putting the health and well-being of students at risk.”

“This is absolutely not acceptable. If hostels serve such food, what will the children do? They rely on that food and cannot eat out every day. When will people in India learn to be responsible?” expressed a third.

A fourth posted, “This is how you play with human life. Hostels are supposed to be safe havens where students can focus on their studies without worrying about such nightmarish scenarios. Food safety is non-negotiable, and it’s high time we all take it seriously. Stay safe, everyone!”

While a fifth said “Pathetic”, a sixth joined and said, “Horrible”.

This, however, is not the first time that a foreign ingredient was found in food. Earlier, a man from Gujarat’s Ahmedabad claimed to have found a rat in sambar while dining at a restaurant. The customer raised the issue with the hotel owner, but to no avail. He then filed a formal complaint with the authorities against the restaurant, and a prompt action was taken. The authorities not only sealed the restaurant but also sent a notice to its owner to address the food safety issue.