HYDERABAD: Telangana has banned egg-based mayonnaise, with the commissioner of food safety prohibiting the production, storage, and sale of mayo prepared from raw eggs with immediate effect. The ban will be in force for a year. Telangana is the second state, after Kerala, to ban the egg-based sauce.
The ban comes soon after a spurt in food poisoning cases. As per observations during enforcement activities and complaints received from the public, mayonnaise made from egg yolk was suspected to be the cause of food poisoning in multiple incidents in the past few months. According to food safety officials, over a dozen cases of contamination have been traced to egg-based mayo in the state this year.
Mayonnaise, a creamy sauce made by emulsifying egg yolk with oil, often flavoured with vinegar or lemon juice, is commonly used as a side dish or dressing in sandwiches, salads, appetisers, snacks, shawarma, and various other dishes.
In Jan, 17 people had fallen ill after eating shawarma laced with mayonnaise at a food joint in Alwal. GHMC officials confirmed that blood tests conducted on the victims detected the presence of harmful salmonella, which causes diarrhoea and fever.
Mayo related food poisoning cases on rise, T invokes provisions to regulate standards
A second food poisoning incident was reported at the same eatery earlier this month.
With the string of food poisoning cases linked to mayo coming to light, the state govt has invoked provisions of the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act of 2006 to regulate and monitor the manufacture, processing, packing, storage, transport, distribution, and sale of any food or food ingredient, to ban the popular dip.
Section 18(1)(f) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 stipulates that in cases where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that a food may present a risk to human health, the food authority and the commissioner of food safety would take appropriate steps. They would inform the general public of the nature of the risk to health, identifying to the fullest extent possible the food or type of food, the risk it may present, and the measures taken or about to be taken to prevent, reduce, or eliminate that risk.
