The death of a 16-year-old girl, Devananda, following acute food poisoning at Cheruvathur in Kasaragod district, has brought into sharp focus the importance of maintaining utmost hygiene and care when preparing and handling food.
Not just Devananda, over 30 people, mostly schoolchildren, who had consumed the same food item – chicken wrap or shawarma, a dish of Arabic origin – were hospitalised at the same time with symptoms of acute food poisoning.
It is the consumption of contaminated food that causes food poisoning. Contamination can happen when improperly cooked food, especially of animal origin, is kept exposed in air. Keeping raw food along with cooked food can also lead to contamination, apart from the presence of bacteria, viruses or parasites.
