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, January 18 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."
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.
On Tuesday, at least 68 people were admitted to various hospitals with symptoms of food poisoning after eating at a restaurant in Ernakulam district's North Paravoor. Local authorities had, thereafter, shut down the restaurant and the Health Department had informed that the licence of the eatery had been cancelled.
The incident occurred amidst the state government's ongoing campaign against restaurants and eateries selling contaminated food.
Earlier in the month, on January 2, a woman died after allegedly consuming food from an eatery in Kottayam. She was a nurse at the Kottayam Medical College. Besides her, 21 others had fallen sick after eating at 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 had suffered from suspected food poisoning on January 1 after allegedly eating at a baptism function in a church near Keezhvaipur area of the district. The government had said that it had taken action against the caterers involved.