Cases associated with food poisoning in Lebanon are rising at an alarming rate. They are increasing by the day and have significantly surpassed those of last year.
New stories arise from all over the country every day about people claiming to have been food poisoned after eating or ordering food from a restaurant.
Hospitals have been getting bombarded with calls from people who are unsure how to tackle their food poisoning symptoms. A lot of times, they end up in the emergency rooms in critical conditions.
The Lebanese all over social media have also been describing their food poisoning incidents and urging others to avoid eating out as much as possible as it is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate good food from poisonous ones.
Several factors have led to this alarming surge in cases:
The constant power outages during the current very hot summer have made food stored in fridges and freezers in both restaurants and homes very susceptible to getting spoiled.
Meat and chicken are being frozen for very long periods of time and stored even after they expire only to be sold later as “fresh” in an attempt to save money on fresh meat.
The high amounts of pollutants in the water across the country are another serious factor contributing to food poisoning. Sewage spills, wastes from factories, and chemicals like pesticides and fertilizers being dumped in rivers have made the water highly contaminated. This water is used in many restaurants and in watering vegetables and plants.
Another factor is related to the transportation of food in underequipped vehicles. Without proper functional air conditioning systems during transportation, food products like meat, chicken, fish, and the like, are not maintained in enough cool temperatures to avoid getting spoiled.
