Tamil Nadu health minister M Subramanian on Tuesday asked the food safety officers in Namakkal district to explain negligence in an incident where a 14-year-old girl died and 40 others were hospitalised after eating at a restaurant. The minister also directed officials across Tamil Nadu to monitor if restaurants are following proper guidelines.
According to the officials familiar with the development, as many as 42 people suffered diarrhoea, vomiting, after consuming food at a restaurant, the report of which was sent to the government on September 17. They all had eaten at a restaurant in Namakkal on the night of September 16.
The 14-year-old girl, named Kalaiyarasi, who was receiving treatment at a private hospital, died on September 18.
The restaurant has been sealed and its food safety licence has been revoked, said a government official, adding that 42-kgs of substandard meat has been destroyed. A preliminary departmental inquiry has revealed that out of 200 people who ate at the restaurant, 42 had to receive medical treatment.
Samples from the restaurant have been sent to a lab in Salem district and the report would be released in a week, the official said.
“The sale of shawarma and grilled chicken has been banned across Namakkal district until further orders,” the government said in a statement.
{{/usCountry}}“The sale of shawarma and grilled chicken has been banned across Namakkal district until further orders,” the government said in a statement.
{{/usCountry}}While a team of food safety officers are inspecting restaurants across Namakkal, another team of 13 health inspectors has been asked to monitor the health of those hospitalised.
According to the data by the state government, from April to August this year, 38,191 inspections have been conducted across Tamil Nadu by the Food Safety Department, of which 1,478 inspections were conducted in Namakkal.
As many as 7,825 food samples including 214 from Namakkal were sent for testing during this period. The government registered 1,894 cases against restaurants in the state and imposed a fine of ₹1.55 crore. Of this, 66 cases were registered in Namakkal and a fine of ₹5.79 lakh was imposed.