Mass food poisoning from consuming contaminated meat shawarma led to the death of a 16-year-old girl in Kasaragod, Kerala, and 52 were hospitalized.

Those affected had stale meat from Ideal Coolbar at Cheruvathoor bus stand. Eight victims are in intensive care units, and the condition of another young girl is serious. Doctors said that she is suffering from cardiac seizures.  

The young victim was identified as Devananda, daughter of Naryanana and Prasanna of Karivalloor in Kannur. She and her friends had eaten chicken shawarma from the restaurant on Friday.

Victims suffered from fever, diarrhea, and vomiting and were admitted to the hospital. Doctors tried their best but could not save the young girl.

Chandera police arrested Anas, a managing partner of Ideal Coolbar at Cheruvathoor bus stand, and a migrant cook named Sandesh Roy from Nepal.

Another owner is in a gulf country, and it is unknown whether he absconded now or was living there before the incident happened.

Such eateries have a history of selling old meat, especially to non-Muslims. Angry locals ensured that such criminals did not continue selling compromised merchandise and pelted stones at the restaurant. They burnt a delivery truck owned by Ideal Food Point, and Chandera police shifted the vehicle to the station premises. 

It is not the first time killer shawarmas have taken lives in Kerala. This incident gained public attention since it was mass poisoning. Others vanish into oblivion, no questions asked. It is well known that Hindus are sold old contaminated meat. 

The Kerala Health department tried to pass the buck and said that the restaurant inside a busy bus station did not have the proper paperwork to sell cooked food.

Three positions remain vacant out of an allocated five food inspectors for Kasargode. After receiving the report about the incident, the health department carried out an inspection and confirmed that the girl died of food poisoning. They closed the restaurant and started an investigation.

Kasaragod district medical officer (DMO) asked people who had food from the eatery to seek treatment if they face any health issues.

DMO A V Ramdas asked the doctors and medical staff from other nearby hospitals to be present at the Cheruvathur public health center and Neeleswaram Taluk hospitals. Those with serious conditions were shifted to the district hospital while the serious patients were shifted to private hospitals.

About some of the things that lead to this incident

Broilers come to Kerala from Namakkal near Coimbatore. They are delivered in lorries or mini-lorries. When these chickens are sold in a shop in Kerala, the price is around Rs. 150-200. But a few chickens will die during this transportation. 

In order to avoid the cost of properly disposing of dead chickens, some greedy creditors will sell them for up to Rs. (Some people just give it. Not everyone says they will buy it.) The lorry driver has a job burying dead chickens. 

Many people adopt this method to save time and money. This is a chicken that dies during a journey of five to eight hours. There have been no problems like losing its freshness. But it will be a while before the buyer takes it as a shower.

Why do chickens die?

This incident has been going on widely in Kerala for years. When you see a chicken coop at the check posts, no one checks to see if all the chickens are alive. Similarly, the restaurant employs people who are not trained enough to cook.

Just google Google Cross Contamination (Bacterial Contamination); When preparing a variety of vegetables, fruits, dairy products, bread, lean meat, and red meat, use a separate chopping board and knife. 

Do not cut one dish with another with a sharp knife. Cross-contamination after cutting can cause food poisoning. How many 'Shawarma Makers' are there in Kerala who has received training on this? Whose responsibility is this ?. 

In Dubai, the Department of Health will only allow people who have received training in such matters to enter the job market. Here you can get a card by giving a photo of the employee, an Aadhaar card, and fees. Holders of this card can have anything from biryani to shawarma!

How many people here know how to check quality?

How many people who know how to do quality checks are working in the health department. They do this by a law made at some point. Dip the spiced chicken into a stick in the middle. Five or eight hours after the chicken is pounded, the shawarma is set on fire. Because of the spice added to the chicken. It is available in retail outlets. Why not put it out there? It's just a matter of time. Does the health department know about this? 

In any case, Shawarma was not in Kerala when the law was enacted in connection with the health department. Understand that. Has training been given to the officials of the health department? Apart from this, a very important thing is that there are many shawarma shops in our country. After seeing the success of some shops, other shops may have started. As I mentioned earlier, there are many problems with chicken for Rs. Mayonnaise is served with shawarma. 

The usual shawarma used in addition to chicken is bread or kuboos or rumali roti. It says. Nothing happens for two or three days. But the expiration date is over. Can anyone see the expiration date of this bread? Is there fungus in it? We do not know. We eat shawarma for one hundred and fifty rupees. We do not know. Who cares. 

(Featured Image Source: Mathrubhumi)