Kerala bans 'life threatening' mayonnaise made with raw egg

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala has banned the production, procurement, sale and use of mayonnaise made with raw egg on the ground it is a health hazard.

The department of food security has issued an order to this effect, Health Minister Veena George told newspersons. The order issued under the Food Safety and Standards Act comes into effect with immediate effect.

It has been found that mayonnaise made from raw egg can be life threatening if it is used after a certain period after it is prepared.

A meeting of the representatives of hotels, restaurants, bakeries and wayside eateries had pledged full support to the move after a number of cases where people were down with food poisoning after using mayonnaise.

The Health Ministry decision follows a scare in the wake of a few deaths after the victims ate food from restaurants, mostly ordered online. A number of food poisoning cases have recently been reported by people who ate Arabian delicacies such as shawarma, sandwiches and a popular preparation called kuzhi manthi.

Department officials conducted statewide inspections of restaurants and eateries and found food raw materials stored in most unhygienic conditions, as well as rotten meat. There are unlicensed operators who supply meat meant for the Arabic food, which are often contaminated.

Mayonnaise is used as dressing or in the form of cream sauce for these preparations, which add to taste, but are decidedly unhealthy.

It has been found that if mayonnaise is made without proper pasteurising, it can lead to breeding of salmonella bacteria, which causes health problems even among healthy people.

It was realised that the problem was caused by raw egg used for making mayonnaise and hence the decision to ban the item.

Henceforth, mayonnaise has to be made either from vegetables or pasteurised egg.