A 22-year-old man died due to suspected food poisoning after eating "shawarma" in Kochi on Wednesday. The deceased man was Rahul from Teekoy of Kottayam district. Talking to PTI, the family said, Rahul ordered a shawarma online from a hotel in Kochi on October 18. While eating the "shawarma", he developed uneasiness.
He was immediately taken to a private hospital for treatment in Kakkanad on Sunday. However, he breathed his last without responding to treatment on Wednesday.
Thrikkakara police said based on the complaint of the man's family a case has been registered against the hotel in Mavelipuram on Monday.
The municipality authorities closed down the hotel the next day itself, they said
A police officer said, "We can ascertain whether shawarma was the reason for the alleged food poisoning only after receiving the postmortem report."
In May, a 16-year-old girl from Kasargod died due to food poisoning after eating shawarma. There were also a few other cases, including finding a portion of snake skin in a wrapped food packet following which the Kerala Food Safety Authority ramped up checking across the state.
State Health Minister Veena George on Friday said the authorities carried out a statewide inspection for over five days.
"In the five days of the wide-ranging inspection conducted at 1,132 eateries, it was found out that 61 establishments had no license, 110 eateries were closed due to poor cleanliness, and 347 eateries were served show cause notices. 140 kg meat was seized and 93 samples have been sent for tests," she said.
"Various drives, which found adulteration in jaggery, curry powder, coconut oil, besides milk, are currently going on. More raids will be conducted across the state and it includes inspection at entry points to the state and markets and food processing centres," she added.