Kerala: Head cook of eatery in North Paravur held, as many hospitalised due to food poisoning

At least 68 people were admitted to various hospitals in Kerala’s Ernakulam district on Tuesday after having food at an eatery in North Paravur, police said.

They were admitted with symptoms of food poisoning and their condition is said to be stable. A case has been registered against the owner of the restaurant and an investigation is on.

“The number of affected persons may go up,” a police official told PTI.

A restaurant in Kerala being inspected after several instances of food poisoning were reported in the state. (KB Jayachandran/South First)

Local authorities have shut the restaurant following the incident, which comes days after the state government launched a campaign against restaurants and eateries selling contaminated food.

State Health Minister Veena George said the licence of the restaurant has been cancelled after the incident. The action was taken based on a report submitted by the food safety commissioner.

Meanwhile, the Food Safety Department has conducted inspections at 189 restaurants across the state and the licences of two have been cancelled.

“Notice has been issued to 37 restaurants for lack of cleanliness,” the minister’s office said.

Recently, a nurse working at the Kottayam medical college died after consuming a dish from the eatery there.

Related: Current system inadequate, health inspectors tell Kerala government

High court takes judicial notice

With a spate of food poisoning incidents being reported from various parts of the state and a woman dying as a result of it, the Kerala High Court on Wednesday took judicial notice of the same and called for a report from the state government on steps taken by it.

A bench of Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly said several incidents of food poisoning have occurred in the recent past and directed the Secretary of the Health and Family Welfare Department to “file a detailed report setting out the occurrences, steps taken against the perpetrators, etc.”

Related: Why inspectors, eateries want change in food consuming habits

The direction was given in a petition, which the court had initiated on its own in May last year based on news reports of several incidents of food poisoning and the death of a young girl after consuming ‘shawarma’.

The petition, which was disposed of in June last year, was revived by the court again in the wake of the food poisoning incidents taking place in the state.

Earlier in the month, on 2 January, a woman died after allegedly consuming food from an eatery in Kottayam. She was a nurse at Kottayam Medical College.

Besides her, 21 others had fallen sick after eating from the same eatery, but they all recovered.

The eatery was subsequently shut down and its chief cook and owner were arrested by the police.

In Pathanamthitta, over 100 people suffered from suspected food poisoning on January 1 after allegedly taking meals during a baptism function in a church near the Keezhvaipur area of the district.

The government had said that it had taken action against the caterers involved.

(With Inputs from PTI)