THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Food Safety Commissioner VR Vinod said that those who blamed the food safety officials before the real reasons behind graduate student Anjusree’s death were revealed, should apologize. The commissioner posted a note in the official WhatsApp group of department officials yesterday evening by referring to the media after the information came out that the cause of Anju's death was due to ingestion of poison.

In the WhatsApp message sent in the morning, it was accused that the media celebrated the food poisoning news. The allegation was that the media was celebrating the death of an innocent girl while neither the Food Safety Department nor the police nor the Health Department confirmed that Anjusree's death was due to food poisoning.

According to the World Health Organization, 4,20,000 people die due to food poisoning every year. Food poisoning happens like road accidents. Our task is to eliminate those opportunities. I once suffered from food poisoning in New York and my children in Abu Dhabi. The issue can be tackled by making people aware and extending lab tests even at night. There is no immediate need for extensive raids because of such incidents. In a WhatsApp note, he also expressed regret for the hardship caused to the employees due to the mediahunt.