Suraiyo Rakhmonova, the children's ombudsman of Uzbekistan, proposed at a meeting of the Legislative Chamber to radically tighten the responsibility of food suppliers in kindergartens. She noted that mass poisonings among children pose a "threat to the gene pool of the nation." This statement was made against the backdrop of a recent incident in the Fergana region, where 62 children were affected.
Rakhmonova emphasized that food safety in preschool institutions has become a serious systemic problem. In 2025, more than 1,900 cases of group illnesses were registered in 82 kindergartens in the Tashkent region. During extensive inspections, serious violations of sanitary norms were identified among companies engaged in outsourcing and catering that provide food to children's institutions. The ombudsman insists that strict measures must be introduced against unscrupulous suppliers, including the possibility of a complete ban on their activities in the social sphere.
According to representatives of the Sanitary and Epidemiological Committee of Uzbekistan, all cases of mass poisonings were linked to private entrepreneurs. In particular, in the Tashkent region, more than a thousand children were poisoned due to products from one dairy manufacturer, which were purchased by three service companies.
Currently, control over the activities of suppliers in Uzbekistan is carried out through a unified information system of the business ombudsman, which eliminates the possibility of illegal unscheduled inspections. However, in light of the increasing number of hospitalizations, the authorities of the country intend to revise the mechanisms for controlling the quality of food in state institutions to avoid the recurrence of such crises in the future.
