The Food Safety Department has launched a detailed investigation into the incident in which a youth fell critically ill and had to be put on ventilator support for suspected food poisoning after three more diners complained of having faced health issues after consuming food from the same restaurant at Mavelipuram in Kakkanad.
Rahul. D. Nair, 22, of Pala reportedly ate shawarma after ordering it from the restaurant through a food aggregator on October 18. According to his relatives, Rahul developed “health issues” after consuming the dish and had been to several hospitals before being admitted to a private hospital in Kakkanad where he remained on ventilator support. He died on October 25 afternoon.
Three more consumers in and around Kakkanad who had had food from the restaurant and developed health issues approached the food safety authorities on October 24 evening. “We have collected statements of all three. While it emerged that they had food from the restaurant on the same day, all of them had taken different food items. Though all had developed health issues, they have had different symptoms and have recovered since then. We are now probing whether there was any common suspected food that all had taken,” said food safety officials.
The food safety officials could not record the statement of the victim at the hospital since he was in no condition for that. The officials had their task cut out since the incident was reported after six days on October 23. “By the time we visited the restaurant, it was shut down by the health wing and there was no food from the said day to be collected as samples. We had to collect samples of whatever food was available. We are awaiting the results of the toxicology and blood culture tests. We have no proof to confirm food poison as the source of these health issues yet,” said the official.
The Thrikkakara police have booked the restaurant owner under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 284 (dealing with any poisonous substance so as to endanger human life) and 308 (attempting to commit culpable homicide).
