Unsafe food: More than 200 eateries closed in Kerala

At least 201 eateries that functioned without valid license/registration have been closed in Kerala since May 2.

Earlier this month, the government launched a statewide campaign, 'good food, right of the land' in the wake of the death of a teenager at Cheruvathur in Kasaragod from food poisoning after consuming shawarma.

Health Minister Veena George said action was taken on 20 shops on Tuesday. Besides, 86 shops were served notices and 31kg of stale meat was seized and destroyed. Samples were collected for tests, said the minister.

To date, 2,183 inspections have been conducted in Kerala and 314 kg of meat that was unusable was destroyed by Food Safety Kerala.

Meanwhile, Operation Malsya and Operation Jaggery that is run simultaneously to ensure the sale of fresh fish and jaggery have also been yielding results, said the minister.

So far, 6,240 kg of chemical-laced fish was seized and destroyed. No fewer than 4,169 inspections were conducted in the last eight days, from which 2,239 fish samples were collected for tests.

At least 89 fish vendors were served notices as part of the campaign. Operation Jaggery has resulted in inspections at 521 shops, from where 137 samples were collected.