Food poisoning: 3 hospitalised after eating shawarma in Idukki; restaurant shut down

Nedumkandam (Idukki): Three family members, including a seven-year-old boy, contracted food poisoning after eating shawarma from a restaurant here on Saturday.

Upon receiving a complaint, the Food Safety Department inspected the eatery, Camel Restaurant, situated near Kizhakkekavala in Nedumkandam. On finding that the restaurant premises were unsanitary, officials directed to shut down the establishment.

Bipin P Mathew (39), his mother Lisy Mathai (56) and his son Mathew Bipin are currently under treatment at a hospital in Idukki.

As per reports, the incident happened on January 1, when Bipin ordered shawarma to be home-delivered in the afternoon.

Shawarma is a popular Middle-Eastern dish, which consists of meat cut into thin slices, stacked in a cone-like shape, and roasted on a slowly-turning vertical rotisserie or spit.

Later that night, the trio started experiencing symptoms of food poisoning, including vomiting and diarrhoea.

Mathew was then taken to the Nedumkandam Taluk Hospital after he developed a high fever. Despite administering medicines, his fever didn't subside. Once Bipin and his mother's condition took a turn for the worse, all three sought treatment at a private hospital.

Bipin, a lecturer at a private college in Nedumkandam, submitted a complaint against the restaurant to the Health Department after the doctors informed him of food poisoning. Hospital authorities too intimated the department concerned about the incident.

The Food Safety Department, on inspection, found that the restaurant did not have a panchayat licence and the staff did not possess a health card.

The inspection was conducted by a team comprising Medical Officer Dr Arun, Health Inspector S Amban, R Santhosh, K P Manju, K Sasi Prasad and P S Divya.