In a suspected case of food poisoning, a 20-year old woman died on Saturday, January 7, after allegedly consuming a biriyani dish from a local hotel. Police said that Anju Sreeparvathy from Perumbala near Kasargod, had consumed kuzhi mandi which she purchased online from a restaurant named Romansia at Kasaragod on December 31. She fell sick after consuming the food and had been undergoing treatment since then.
"A case has been registered after her parents filed the complaint. The woman died early Saturday morning," police said, adding that further action will be taken based on the post-mortem report. Anju was undergoing treatment at a private hospital, from where she was taken to another hospital at Mangaluru in Karnataka, where she died.
Meanwhile, state Health Minister Veena George, ordered a probe into the incident. "Directions have been issued to the Food Safety Commissioner to file a report with regard to the incident. The DMO is also looking into the incident and the treatment given to the girl," George told reporters at Pathanamthitta.
She said that the licence of the hotels which are accused of food poisoning, will be cancelled under the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA). Meanwhile, Food Safety Assistant Commissioner of Kasaragod, Subimole YJ conducted an inspection in the Romansia restaurant and found that the restaurant was clean and their license active. However, it was sealed by the officials.
Udma MLA CH Kunhambu took to social media to express his condolences. “Anjushree Parvathi, a second year degree student at Manjeshwar College died of food poisoning a while ago. Condolences,” he posted.
Earlier this week, a nurse in Kottayam Medical College died allegedly after consuming food from an eatery in Kozhikode. 33-year-old Reshmi, died after allegedly showing symptoms of food poisoning, on Tuesday, January 3. She had consumed kuzhimanthi and al faham at a restaurant. Further, more than 20 other people also fell ill after they consumed kuzhimanthi and al faham at the restaurant. In yet another incident on December 29, over 100 people took ill due to suspected food poisoning at a baptism feast in Pathanamthitta district.