Chennai / Thanjavur: Food safety officials yesterday inspected ‘Chicken Shawarma’ shops across Tamil Nadu following the vomiting and fainting of three college students who ate ‘chicken shawarma’ at a hotel in Thanjavur district.
A woman died after eating ‘chicken shawarma’ in Kerala recently. The state health department said the food he ate contained a bacterium called Shigella, which could have been the cause of the woman’s death.
Meanwhile, Praveen (22) from Kanyakumari, Parimaleswaran (21) from Pudukottai and Manikandan (22) from Dharmapuri, who are studying at the Government Veterinary College in Orathanadu, Thanjavur district, had ‘Chicken Shawarma’ in a cafe on the Orathanadu section road last night. After a while, the three vomited and fainted. They were immediately given first aid at Orathanadu Government Hospital and admitted to Thanjavur Medical College Hospital.
Officers led by Chitra, an informed District Food Safety Officer, inspected the hotel and sent the food items for inspection.
In this context, food safety officials across Tamil Nadu conducted intensive raids on chicken meat shops and ‘chicken shawarma’ shops yesterday. During the raid on more than 60 shops in Chennai, meat food samples were collected from more than 15 suspicious shops and sent to the King Research Center in Kandy.
Some shops were found to be unsanitary and notices were issued asking for explanations. Authorities inspected more than 1,000 ‘chicken shawarma’ stores across the state yesterday. Numerous ‘Shawarma’ shops were closed yesterday for fear of being inspected by the authorities.
During a search of a poultry wholesale shop in the Vandipettai area of Nagapattinam, officers led by Food Safety Appointed Officer Pushparaj found 250 kg of chicken that had been cut up for sale and confiscated.
Similarly, 60 kg of spoiled chicken meat was confiscated and destroyed in Thirukuvalai. Food safety officials in various parts of Trichy raided 21 shops selling ‘chicken shawarma’ and seized 12 kg of spoiled meat.
Food Security Officers led by Food Safety Officer Jagadish Chandrabose have been inspecting ‘Chicken Shawarma’ shops in various parts of Tiruvallur district including Avadi, Poonamallee and Chenkunram for the last 3 days.
A search of more than 60 stores so far revealed that 10 stores had substandard 25kg of chicken meat and banned plastic bags. Authorities confiscated them and fined the shops Rs 2,000 each.
Problem with ‘Grill Chicken’ too!
In ‘Chicken Shawarma’ shops, the chicken is overheated and the bacteria in it dies. They cut that frugality into pieces and sell it with a butter-like substance called ‘mayonnaise’. This product is made from green eggs. Green eggs contain a lot of bacteria. It should be eaten fast. The health department continues to warn that eating raw can lead to diseases such as typhoid.
In this case, ‘mayonnaise’ may be the main reason for the increase in bacteria in the ‘shawarma’ food. The utensils used to make this are not washed daily in most stores. This ‘mayonnaise’ is also given when buying ‘Grill Chicken’.
Therefore, those who know the details say that the authorities should not only conduct inspections towards ‘Shawarma’ shops but also on shops producing ‘Grill Chicken’.