strange taste
On February 2, 11 residents of the Leninsky district of Irkutsk were poisoned by shawarma. Seven people were hospitalized for acute intestinal infection.
“Everyone’s condition is stable, there are no serious cases. The victims attribute their illness to food they bought in one of the city’s cafes.” reported At Rospotrebnadzor. The restaurant’s operations are currently suspended.
The department of the Investigative Committee of the Irkutsk Region told socialbites.ca that a criminal case was opened on the provision of services that do not meet safety requirements based on the fact of poisoning. Employees check all public food outlets in the city.
The residents themselves are also confused – they were buying shawarma in their area without any consequences. We ate more than half of it and threw the rest away. It tasted weird, unpleasant and had too much oil. I don’t know what caused it, before that the owner was cooking and doing a good job, we ate there three or four times,” said one of the victims.
Now he and his girlfriend remain in the infectious diseases hospital. Both have fatigue, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
The investigation into the incident was taken under control by the regional prosecutor’s office.
Salmonella and flies
This is not the first emergency of this kind in the Irkutsk region. In the summer of 2023, 62 people in Bratsk sought medical attention due to symptoms of poisoning. 29 of them were hospitalized.
A criminal case was also filed in this regard. During the investigation, it was established that residents visited one business – I Want Shawarma cafe. Its owner, local businessman Artush Harutyunyan, was detained.
The Bratsk City Court first sent him to house arrest, then replaced the preventive measure with a ban on certain actions.
Rospotrebnadzor appealed applied to the court upon the request of the victims. Experts stated that the inspection revealed many violations in the cafe’s work.
Raw meat and eggs were stored along with finished products, vegetables and pita bread. There was no hot water or bactericidal equipment, and flies were flying around the cooking area.
Salmonella was found in swab samples taken by experts from staff and victims. They were also found in Shawarma.
Despite this, the court rejected the ministry’s claim because Harutyunyan “stopped the activities of the individual entrepreneur” after the start of the trial.
“I didn’t want them to get hurt.”
Suspects in many criminal cases related to low-quality shawarma are still awaiting a verdict. Thus, in the Kursk region, until February 6, a stall owner and two of his relatives who were preparing shawarma were kept under house arrest. One girl died and more than 20 people were hospitalized after eating a snack at the business.
The organization’s employees were accused of providing services that did not meet safety requirements and resulted in the death of a person. They face up to six years in prison.
At the hearing, the stall owner said, “I didn’t want anyone to get hurt, I always did my job meticulously.”
According to local residents, no one had ever complained about shawarma before; it was easily purchased, especially by students – the stall was opposite the university. But when discussing stories after the noisy scandal, many people began to recall feeling a “suspicious smell.”
Against the background of mass poisonings, the State Duma even proposed introducing a federal standard for shawarma.
“All points where they cook dishes from fresh products without unnecessary culinary tricks, fatty sauces and harmful additives should be marked with special stickers – a sign of quality. “So that people know where they can eat quickly and without harming their health,” he said. aforementioned Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Vladislav Davankov from the New People party in the summer of 2023.
cook at home
The topic has not yet gone beyond statements, so experts recommend approaching the purchase of shawarma carefully and ideally preparing it yourself.
“I never forbid my patients from eating shawarma as long as they do not add fatty sauces. Shawarma contains a sufficient amount of nutrients, is saturated with a complete composition of proteins, fats and carbohydrates (BJU). The main thing is to carefully approach the choice of ingredients, nutritionist Anastasia Pleshcheva said in an interview with socialbites.ca.
When choosing a finished product, you should first of all pay attention to the organization itself. Most often, problems are caused not only by poor quality meat or vegetables, but also by violations of cooking technology and, most importantly, failure by cooks to comply with the rules of personal hygiene.
This can cause salmonellosis, foodborne illness, and dysentery.
“It is better to buy shawarma only at official points of sale, trying to personally assess the sanitary condition of the facility at a glance.” explains Rospotrebnadzor expert Polina Sorokina. “At a minimum, the pavilion must have a centralized or autonomous water supply and sewage system, as well as refrigeration equipment for storing semi-finished products.”