Hygiene for kitchens: Why IIT-B can’t crack food poisoning case?

Three months after the food poisoning incident, the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) has still not figured out why more than 600 students had fallen ill after  dinner at the hostel mess.

Despite the fact-finding committee probing into the matter for two months, the institute, which takes pride in scientific research has been unable to figure out how klebsiella, the bacteria that was found in the stool samples of the affected students, was present in the food.

“Around 80% of gastrointestinal diseases are caused by bad handling of food and unhygienic methods. Not all food contamination is caused by the raw material. In fact, on most occasions, food gets contaminated when it is not handled hygienically,” said Ashwin Bhadri, head business relations, Equinox Lab, a professional expert agency in hygiene auditing.

“If the food handler is suffering from an illness, he or she can pass the contamination to the food. Hence, maintaining a clean kitchen and hygiene of the workers is important.”

Questions are now being raised if the institute went about finding answers in a scientific manner or is it simply brushing the issue under the carpet.

In a bid to quell reports in the media, IIT-B went to the extent of issuing a gag order on students and even conducted an opinion poll last month to see if a blanket ban on media should be implemented.

The key questions that the institute doesn’t have answers to are how the fact-finding committee would probe into the incident when it was formed as late as the last week of October — almost a month later. Obviously, it did not have food samples to check.

The institute was quick to rule out water contamination believing a report submitted by the purifier manufacturer, and the food handlers were not subjected to medical examinations immediately to check if they were had any infections.

The committee reportedly also overlooked other sources of infection such as seepage in the walls of the hostel mess that could lead to mold.

Bhadri said the panel should have checked the possibility of contamination by air as the walls of the hostel mess were extremely moist.

While professor Urjit Yagnik, dean of student affairs at IIT-B, admitted no medical checks were conducted on the food handlers, he gave an assurance it has been made mandatory in the new contract.

“Routine medical check-ups and regular training for the canteen workers to maintain basic hygiene will be part of the canteen contract. All canteen staff has been asked to use sanitizer for washing with immediate effect.”

Yagnik admitted that the suspect food samples were not made available to the panel.

“We have not been able to take samples of the food and water consumed by students on September 25, because they started showing symptoms and reporting to the campus hospital at different points. Some even complained of stomach ache a day later. The samples could be taken only of the items that were available after students started complaining of illness," he said.

He, however, denied claims that the water at the campus was being tested by a purifier manufacturer. “Students do not have complete information. The water was properly tested by experts at the IIT-B labs. But, it would not be correct to completely rule out water as a cause of contamination as the director-appointed committee’s report is yet inconclusive."

In one of the issues of Insight, an official IIT-B students' magazine, Prasoon Thapliyal, general secretary of hostel number 13 (one of the messes affected by food poisoning), mentioned how the purifier manufacturer staff had conducted tests. He also lamented the poor construction of the kitchen and uncontrolled seepage in the walls.