Hyderabad: In a swift action following the death of a woman and several others suffering health complications after consuming momos at a food stall, the commissioner of food safety banned consumption of mayonnaise prepared from raw eggs for one year, which came into effect on Wednesday.
The ban applies to mayonnaise using raw eggs without any pasteurization, prepared by FBOs for commercial use.
The decision follows a review meeting convened by health minister Damodar Rajanarasimha, who assessed the efforts of the task force committee, and took stock of the recent complaints of food safety violations.
Based on the Kerala example, officials recommended a ban, which the minister endorsed, issuing the ban up to October 2025.
Meanwhile, the ban exempts mayonnaise made of pasteurized eggs and by outlets having valid FSSAI certification.
The notification said that mayonnaise prepared from raw eggs seems to be the reason for food poisoning incidents in the past few months.
Officials informed the minister in the meeting that 235 establishments have been inspected so far and notices were issued to 170 outlets. Minister directed them to take strict action against unsafe food practices and low-quality mayonnaise.
In a further streamlining measure, the food safety department will be expanded in the coming months with plans to include three new labs, five mobile testing units and additional staff to handle inspections. The minister called for strengthening food labs to enable them to test at least 24,000 samples in a year.
Set up of a drug authority, hiring food safety officers in integrated collectorates and a grievance cell to take people's complaints were all suggested as viable steps during the meeting.
Taking a different angle, chef Amey Marathe, who is also the vice-president of Telangana Chefs Association, clarified, "The issue is not egg mayonnaise. The rule is to store the food at the correct temperature. The food poisoning probably happened because the mayonnaise was kept at room temperature for long. Any food kept at room temperature for more than two hours will go bad. We call it the danger zone — between 5 degrees Celsius and 56 degrees Celcius. Cold food has to be kept at below six degree Celsius and hot food above 65 degree Celsius to make it last longer. Anything kept within the danger zone will go bad and applies to all kinds of food, including chicken, eggs and vegetarian curries. He added that instead of putting a ban, the government should train personnel to handle food.
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