MALAPPURAM: In a suspected case of food poisoning, over 100 students and faculty members of Aligarh Muslim University’s (AMU) Malappuram centre, Perinthalmanna, were hospitalised after eating dinner from the North Indian mess situated on the centre’s campus.
Authorities of the centre said the students who ate dinner from the mess on Saturday began showing food poisoning symptoms. Some suffered from stomach cramps and diarrhoea, while some started vomiting. Soon, medical help was sought from a private hospital in Perinthalmanna early on Sunday. Later, more students were admitted there. “The students’ condition is not serious. Most of them, who were under observation, got discharged by Monday evening,” said director of the centre Dr A Nujum. Food safety officials and health officials visited the campus and issued a notice asking authorities to take immediate steps to ensure hygiene in the mess.
“The inspection team managed to collect samples of baking soda, rock salt and bread from the mess. The samples were sent to the regional food analysis laboratory at Kozhikode,” said district food safety officer C A Janardhanan While the real reason behind the incident was yet to be ascertained, Janardhanan said the vegetables used for preparing some north Indian food at the mess could be the culprits. The centre, too, formed a team of teachers to conduct detailed internal inquiry into the incident. Nujum said the centre had decided to renovate two messes on the campus in light of the incident.