Kerala govt issues new rules for sale of shawarma: Details here

Shops will now require a licence to sell shawarma in the state of Kerala, the government has said in new rules issued on Thursday, September 1. An order by the Health Department states that those who sell shawarma in violation of the rules and without a proper licence may be liable to a fine upto Rs 5 lakhs and imprisonment of up to 6 months. The order comes months after a food poisoning death after eating a stale shawarma shook the state of Kerala.

The government order has issued a set of rules on how the dish has to be made and sold. The date and time of making the shawarma should be mentioned on the parcel packets, the shawarma should not be kept outside for more than one hour, and the mayonnaise shouldn’t be used for more than two days, the government order says. The shawarma should be kept at a temperature of four degrees Celcius, and the ingredients for shawarma should be Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) certified. The chicken used in the shawarma should be cooked for 15 minutes, beef should be cooked for 30 minutes and the kubboos or bread used should have an expiry and manufacture date mentioned. The order says that those who violate any of these rules will be penalised.

The order comes three months after 16-year-old Devananda from Kasaragod died after consuming stale shawarma. At the time, 40 people who had eaten the shawarma from the Kasaragod shop had been admitted to the hospital. Shigella bacteria was found after samples from the patients — who were admitted to the Kozhikode government medical college hospital — were collected and analysed. This pathogen can cause intestinal infection which is very contagious and can spread through contaminated food or water.

Kerala Health Minister Veena George had then issued directions to the Food Safety Commissioner to ensure a neat and clean preparation of the dish. She also asked the officials to make sure that the meat used to make the dish is cooked properly. After Devananda’s death, the government also launched a campaign to find unclean shawarma centres and take action. Under this operation, food safety officials had raided more than 5,600 shops. 214 shops functioning without proper licences and 165 unhygienic shops were closed.