Chicken shwarmas banned in Jordan

Acting Health Minister Mohammed al-Thneibat has said that 204 have been hospitalised due to undercooked sandwiches infected with Salmonella. Homemade mayonnaise has also been banned due to the eggs used in the making of the product.

It is not yet clear how long the ban would be in place.

It is said that the Salmonella originated from a restaurant in a Palestinian refugee camp, approx. 27 km northwest of the Jordanian capital of Amman. The restaurant apparently sold some 600 meals of undercooked chicken meat, which caused poisoning in a third of the consumers.

Al-Thneibat said that up to 600 restaurants all over the kingdom were included in the ban as a precaution. The owner of the Palestinian restaurant and its staff were arrested. If convicted, the owner faces up to three years in jail, as well as a fine.

In addition, authorities have also closed the restaurant where the source of infection was detected.