City turns heat on food-sellers in Cape Town

CAPE Town authorities have put a lid on entrepreneurs cashing in by selling cooked meals from car boots outside popular nightspots‚ warning that contaminated food could make their customers ill.

“We do not want to be the Grinch that steals people’s entrepreneurial spirit‚ but we have a duty to protect the public‚” mayoral committee member for health, councillor Siyabulela Mamkeli said.

“There are laws around the preparation and transportation of food that City Health has to enforce,” he said.

“We cannot turn a blind eye as that would not be fair to legal traders or the public in the event that someone gets sick.”

City officials said environmental health practitioners had‚ in recent weeks‚ noticed an increase in the number of people selling cooked food from their car boots in the early hours of the morning – particularly around popular nightspots.

While city authorities admired the entrepreneurial spirit of these individuals‚ the fact is that such sales were illegal and possibly dangerous to consumers‚ they said.

Regulations around food hygiene require appropriate and acceptable premises; maintenance of good hygiene practices – including personal hygiene of all food-handlers, cold chain maintenance, effective food storage practices, maintenance of food at safe temperatures as prescribed in legislation, safe and hygienic working environments when preparing and serving food, and measures to prevent the contamination of food.

In terms of the Foodstuffs‚ Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act‚ fines can be issued for transgressions related to the handling and transportation of food‚ and not having a certificate of acceptability. The fines range from R1 000 to R2 000 per individual charge.