Thiruvananthapuram, May 6 (IANS): In wake of the death of a 16-year-old girl from Kasargod due to food poisoning after eating a shawarma and a few other cases, including finding a portion of snake skin in a wrapped food packet, the Kerala Food Safety Authority has been ramped up checking across the state.

State Health Minister Veena George on Friday said the authorities carried out a statewide inspection in the past five days.

"In the five days of the wide ranging inspection conducted at 1,132 eateries, it was found out that 61 establishments had no license, 110 eateries were closed due to poor cleanliness, and 347 eateries were served show cause notices. 140 kg meat was seized and 93 samples have been sent for tests," she said.

George noted that food adulteration is a serious offense and strict action will be taken against all the wrongdoers.

"Various drives, which found adulteration in jaggery, curry powder, coconut oil, besides milk, are currently going on. More raids will be conducted across the state and it includes inspection at entry points to the state and markets and food processing centres," she added.

Intervening in the issue after suo moto registering a case against the food poisoning death at Kasargod, the Kerala High Court on Friday said such an unfortunate incident could have been avoided had stricter checks and balances been in place and demanded that there should be all round checks all the time.