Are people poisoned by fast food in Tashkent?

Recently, news circulated on social media about alleged cases of food poisoning at a popular fast food restaurant in Tashkent. The Sanepid Committee has since responded to these claims.

According to the committee, no urgent notifications or complaints were received by the Department of Poisoning or its district branches from individuals who had consumed food at the said establishment on the day in question. Therefore, the committee stated that the rumors spread on social media are unfounded.

For context, 18 cases of food poisoning were reported in Uzbekistan during the first quarter of 2024, affecting 143 citizens. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 600 million people worldwide suffer from foodborne illnesses annually, with 420,000 deaths as a result of consuming food contaminated by microorganisms or chemicals. Among these fatalities, 125,000 are children under the age of five.

It is worth noting that a previous case of mass food poisoning occurred at the "Muhteshem Doner" restaurant in Tashkent. Between September 6 and 8 of this year, 23 individuals exhibited symptoms of food poisoning, with 22 of them receiving treatment at the clinic of the Scientific and Practical Medical Center of Epidemiology, Microbiology, Infectious, and Parasitic Diseases, and one at the Infectious Diseases Hospital No. 4 in Tashkent.