Abu Dhabi: Nearly 37 patients were admitted to Marfa Hospital at Al Gharbia (Western Region) in a suspected case of food poisoning last Saturday.
The food poisoning occurred after Al Marfa residents attended a wedding on Friday.
“A friend of mine attended the event, and started feeling a pain in her stomach as soon as she returned home. So she went to the hospital, where she encountered many other guests with the same complaint,” said Huda Al Hossani, a 22-year-old Emirati student who lives in Al Marfaa.
Guests suspected that food served at the wedding, which had been catered by a restaurant in Bani Yas, had been the source of the poisoning.
According to a representative at the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA) that manages the hospital, none of the patients were very seriously affected, however.
“About 32 of the admitted patients were treated and discharged immediately. Only five patients were hospitalised overnight,” the representative told Gulf News.
Huda added that her friend was one of the patients who was quickly treated and able to go home.
No further information was available on the hospitalised patients, however, although a source claimed that a few of them had been transferred to a hospital in the capital for further treatment.
No comments were available from Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA) until going to the press. The authority is responsible for the food safety in the emirate.
ADFCA had announced in the past that its inspectors have been regularly visiting the kitchens of food catering companies that supply food to large numbers of people. Any violation of food safety rules are strictly dealt with, according to the authority.
— With additional inputs from Binsal Abdul Kader, Staff Reporter
