KOZHIKODE: Attention Shawarma buffs, in the next two weeks shawarma outlets, which have been mushrooming in the district, will be reduced by half and many of your favourite outlets might be closed down. After the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) district officials announced a mandatory registration for Shawarma outlets, only a few outlets have acquired the certificate.
“We have received a total of 125 applications from outlet owners, of which the certificate has been issued only to 86 outlets based on the inspection that we conducted in their respective outlets,” said O Shankaran Unni, Assistant commissioner FSSAI, here. As per the new recommendation of FSSAI, the separate approval certificate is mandatory to run shawarma outlets and also no outlets would be allowed to display their counter outside their hotels or eatery.
“Cooking shawarma in the open space is not healthy,” he added. “For the last five months we have been carrying out a special investigation to report the condition of Shawarma’s sold in Kozhikode District. Our reports said Shawarma outlets were deplorable, after which we decided to make a database of the Shawarma outlets in the District which will be under the strict scrutiny of FSSAI,” he said.
On January 10, FSSAI asked shawarma outlets to submit an application and based on this, they conducted a detail inspection after which the certificates were issued. This tight scrutiny was imposed on shawarma sales, after a few recent incidents in which people were hospitalised due to food poisoning after consuming Shawarma from various bakeries in Kovoor, Nadakkavu, and Medical College.
