20 people taken ill after eating Shawarma in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: More than 20 people, 10 of whom were members of the same family, fell sick due to food poisoning after consuming the popular roadside snack in Hyderabad - Shawarma, at a restaurant named Bhukkad located at Yapral.

Charlie, a resident of Yapral, said, “On Friday night many of my family members ate shawarma bought from Bhukkad. Soon the next day all of them started experiencing nausea and vomiting. About 5 of them got admitted in hospital as they got very weak and had to be administered glucose.”

When contacted, an official of the Lakshmi Narayana hospital in Yapral, said, “Since Friday we received about 20 patients complaining of nausea and diarrhea after eating shawarma bought from a restaurant in Yapral. All of them were diagnosed with food poisoning. Most of those who came to us soon after experiencing symptoms were treated as out-patients but some who first tried self-treatment buying drugs over the counter and came to us late, were very weak and had to be admitted.”

Apart from this hospital, it is reported that few other hospitals and clinics in Yapral also were visited by some patients who had consumed shawarma at Bhukkad.

When contacted, Vijay Reddy, owner of the restaurant said, “We have been selling shawarma since the past 2-3 years and such an incident never occurred. Some people approached me regarding the problem. We have shut down the shawarma counter that is located outside our restaurant. The person who used to make shawarma is missing.”

One of the food poisoning victims said that on Sunday evening he spoke with the restaurant management and that he is hopeful that he would be paid at least the money spent on hospital bills as compensation.
Victims of the food poisoning, however, had no idea whom to approach to complaint against the hotel, indicating the lack of knowledge among citizens on whom to approach in such cases. One of the victims contacted Express to complaint about the issue.

Sudarshan Reddy, in charge Assistant Food Controller, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) said, “Usually whenever any case is registered with the police or GHMC regarding such incidents we immediately take action. Even when we see such a case reported in the media, we take action suo motu. In this particular incident we have not yet received any complaint.”

The GHMC’s food inspection arm has been in a pathetic state of affairs since long and has only about three food inspectors for a city that has lakhs of eateries and new eateries are mushrooming on a regular basis.
It may be recalled that last year five people including Assistant Food Controller and Chief Public Analyst of food safety lab under Institute of Preventive Medicine were arrested by the Anti Corruption Bureau for trying to change food safety report of a biryani joint. In the 2015-16 annual report of FSSAI, there were no figures from Telangana of the number of sampled tested, found adulterated, cases launched and convictions.