The health wing of the Thrikkakara municipality had shut down the restaurant after receiving a complaint on October 23, 2023.
| Photo Credit: R. RAVINDRAN
A youth who had been on ventilator support at a private hospital in Kochi for suspected food poisoning after consuming shawarma from a restaurant at Mavelipuram in Kakkanad, Kerala, died on October 25 afternoon. The deceased was Rahul D. Nair, 22, of Pala.
He was an employee of a company at the Cochin Special Economic Zone and was staying with friends at Chittethukara.
He ate the shawarma ordered 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 at the private hospital at Kakkanad.
“As per initial assessment, his death has been attributed to septic shock, a serious infection affecting internal organs,” said a hospital spokesperson.
He was brought to the hospital in a collapsed state on October 22 (Sunday) and was immediately put on ventilator support which was retained till his death. While blood tests pointed towards food poisoning, the hospital had sent samples to the lab at Amrita Hospital (in Kochi) for further confirmation. The result was not available yet.
Restaurant owner booked
The Thrikkakara police had booked the restaurant owner under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 284 (dealing with any poisonous substance so as to endanger human life) and 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide). Relevant sections may be added based on medical reports, inquest and the post-mortem examination report, said the police.
The health wing of the Thrikkakara municipality had shut down the restaurant after receiving a complaint on October 23.
Three more taken ill
In a related development, the food safety department has launched a detailed investigation after three other customers also complained of having faced “health issues” after consuming food from the same restaurant.
The three who had food from the restaurant and developed health issues approached the food safety authorities on October 24 evening. “We have collected statements of all the 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 had recovered since then. We are now probing whether there was any common food that all had taken,” said food safety officials.
The officials could not record the statement of the victim at the hospital since he was in no condition to speak. The officials had their task cut out since the incident was reported only after six days since he was first taken ill.
“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 collected samples of whatever food was available. We are awaiting results of the toxicology and blood culture tests. However, as yet, we have no proof to confirm food poisoning,” said an official.