Deputy Minister of Preschool and School Education of Uzbekistan Temurjon Komilov announced at a press conference on April 21 that a new regulatory document aimed at improving food quality and safety in the country's kindergartens is being prepared. This project envisions ensuring targeted and effective spending of funds allocated for children, increasing transparency in the food delivery process, and fundamentally revising the system for selecting service providers.
The deputy minister acknowledged problems in the outsourcing and catering-based food systems implemented in recent years. Specifically, he mentioned cases of food poisoning affecting over 1,000 pupils of state kindergartens in September 2025 in the Bo‘ka, Pskent, Bekobod, Oqqo‘rg‘on, and Quyichirchiq districts of Tashkent Region, as well as deficiencies in the catering system introduced in 239 state kindergartens across five districts of Fergana Region. He also recalled the hospitalization of pupils from three kindergartens in Fergana (Nos. 2, 58, and 61) with acute diarrhea diagnoses.
Komilov noted that although under Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 626 of 2021, food services in some kindergartens were organized on an outsourcing basis, the main part of the system remained traditional. A new resolution adopted in 2025 set an average cost for feeding one child across all regions and approved unified standard menus by season, but these measures proved insufficient for a full assessment of the system's quality.
Currently, comprehensive studies of outsourcing and catering-based food systems are being conducted, involving several ministries and agencies, as well as specialists from the Accounts Chamber. The studies aim not only to analyze identified shortcomings but also to develop new approaches based on international experience. The deputy minister emphasized that critical examination of system deficiencies continues, with the ultimate goal being to establish a food system that ensures children's safety and operates efficiently.
The new document project is aimed at increasing transparency in the outsourcing system, opening up the supplier selection process, and ensuring proper spending of state funds. At the same time, providing healthy and quality food to children is defined as a priority task. This document project will be submitted to the Presidential Administration in due course and, after coordination with ministries and agencies, presented for public discussion.
Source: www.gazeta.uz