Two Locations of "Tashir Pizza" Temporarily Closed Following 15 Cases of Food Poisoning

We have been monitoring the public catering establishment at a specific address since 9 a.m. this morning. We received the alert last night, and immediately after that, we began to take our measures. This was stated by Vahe Danielyan, head of the Food Safety Inspection Body, in a conversation with reporters, responding to reports that 15 citizens who ate at two locations of the "Tashir Pizza" public catering network were admitted to the National Center for Infectious Diseases on November 4 with a preliminary diagnosis of intestinal infection.

According to him, samples have been taken from both finished products and semi-finished ones. "After we receive the results of the laboratory reports, we will be able to draw certain conclusions about what caused the poisoning. The Ministry of Health has also been working with us. Currently, all accompanying documents for the products, safety foundation documents, and conditions for the preparation and storage of semi-finished products are being examined. We received the alert from the National Center for Disease Prevention and Control. Two different addresses have been mentioned; work is also being conducted at the other location (the Khanzhyan branch). The area is closed, and our inspectors are working there," he said.

Danielyan informed that the examinations would take several days: "In any case, we will not conclude sooner than four days because the necessity for additional examinations may arise." In response to a question about what will happen if it is found that the food was spoiled or expired, a representative of the Food Safety Inspection Body said, "At this moment, we will submit a report to the head of the inspection body to temporarily suspend operations until we conclude our work and determine that the operations of this public catering establishment do not pose a danger to the public."

"Tashir Pizza" is one of the unique establishments that requests supervision every year. The last inspection took place this year at various branches, while the overall network was inspected in 2020. Inspections this year revealed certain violations related to storage conditions and labeling. We have provided instructions for correcting these violations. Previously, there have been no poisoning incidents here," he added, mentioning that inspections at these two specific locations were planned for the fourth quarter of this year.

The representative of the Food Safety Inspection Body also noted that the focus has been on the food mentioned by the poisoned individuals—pizza, salads, and burgers. It is noteworthy that on November 4, 15 citizens were admitted to the National Center for Infectious Diseases with a preliminary diagnosis of intestinal infection. Among the patients, 2 are children aged 10 and 13. All citizens reported that they ate at the "Tashir Pizza" catering point, 13 of them on Northern Avenue in Yerevan, and 2 on Khanzhyan Street. The patients’ conditions are of moderate severity.