Sharjah: Sharjah Municipality has closed down outlets suspected as the source of a possible food poisoning outbreak as they await laboratory results linked to the 14 possible cases that occurred over the weekend, officials said.

Omar Ali Al Muhairi, Deputy Director of the Food Control Unit at Sharjah Municipality told Gulf News the municiplaity, Forensics Laboratory at Sharjah Police and Al Qasimi and Al Kuwaiti Hospitals are collaborating for the investigation.

Al Muhairi said there were two separate incidents over the weekend - one involving four Iranian men and the other involving 10 members from four different families.

The four Iranian men, he said, were admitted to Al Kuwaiti hospital on Thursday night, where they received treatment and were discharged.

One of the men died after he was discharged and another returned to the hospital as his symptoms did not improve.

“We took all the details, which included the place were they suspect they got food poisoning from and their personal details. Then an inspector was dispatched to the location,” Al Muhairi said.

The men reported that they had taken a pot from their house to the outlet, which is a popular kitchen in Sharjah, and the food they ordered was put in it for them.

They took the food back to their house and served it in their own utensils.

When a report of food poisoning was received at 9pm, an inspector visited the place and found it closed. He returned in the morning and took samples from the food the men say they ate.

“We are also investigating whether the outlet was complying with the municipality’s health and safety standards.

“The other incident, involving 10 members from four different families, was also received on the Municipality’s hotline on Thursday night. The 10 members are of varying ages,” Al Muhairi added.

The 10 people, including some children, ate from various outlets in a Sharjah Mall’s food court, Al Muhairi said.

The outlets’ names will not be released until the test results are out.

“We took food samples from all the outlets the families ate at. We also found a common foodstuff that was consumed by all the members from the various outlets and took samples,” Al Muhairi said.

He didn’t reveal the type of food eaten by all the family members.