Food safety in Lebanon: building on yesterday’s crisis
‘Nonconforming’, ‘standards’, ‘on the minister’s list’ and ‘inspections,’ have been the main buzz words during the past year. The Ministry of Public Health’s (MOPH) food safety campaign has kept hospitality establishments busy; working on improving their
Post-crisis status
The MOPH food safety campaign has literally created shockwaves. The impact proved negative at first but quickly evolved into a positive national issue, where practically everyone was urged to implement the highest food safety measures.
The crisis has created momentum concerning food safety, according to Bana
Kobrosly, country manager of Boecker®, the largest public health company in the Middle East that presents a wide range of services and products in pest management, food safety and biosecurity. “Actually, there were some restaurants and food industries who had been working on food safety standards like Q Platinum Award, HACCP and ISO 22000 out of their own interest and care before the crisis. The crisis has pushed the public to be more aware and to ask about food safety in restaurants, which has forced more restaurants to work on these to maintain their reputation,” said Kobrosly.
Organizations that had never tackled this subject before are now more interested and involved according to Nabil Rizkallah, CEO of GWR Consulting, a quality control and training firm with activity spanning Lebanon, the GCC, North Africa and the Levant region.
The trend is spreading not only in the capital but also in remote areas. This is highlighted by Margaret Kfoury, senior manager for Zizette Group, a distributor of hygienic, sanitation and cleaning solutions. “People from the Bekaa region for example, have started to ask for assistance when it comes to products and how to take care of the food safety issues,” she said. “We have witnessed a burst in selling products especially when inspections get closer.”
A representative from Truly Nolen Lebanon, a pest control service company, commented that their organization is receiving an increasing number of phone calls from people willing to adopt more food safety measures with every inspection. The crisis has also spurred entrepreneurship with an opportunity for some to start their own businesses. J. Medic. Group S.A.R.L. is a start-up franchisee company founded in February 2015. Its first product to Lebanon, ‘Foodsaf Salad Wash’, is becoming one of the leading products on the market,
according to Joseph Karam, the firm’s project manager.
Restaurants’ view
The long list published by the MOPH, filled with names of some prominent eateries in the country, affected the trust chain of consumers. Although some restaurants would have probably witnessed a drop in the number of their clients for the short term, this trust concern very much depended on the brand equity and image of each outlet, with the impact varying accordingly, according to Tania Abou
Merhi, GWR’S country manager.
In response, restaurants rushed to restore their image by improving customer service and marketing strategies, making sure to adopt the Ministry’s norms in parallel. “We have won the minister’s campaign,” said
Tony Ramy, president of the Syndicate of Owners of Restaurants, Cafés, NightClubs, and Pastries in Lebanon. “The minister accepted our guidelines and took them into consideration while preparing the food safety law,” he added. The Syndicate managed to get the minister’s consent to lessen the restaurants’ penalties. Fines, which were LL 100 million as well as three months in prison, were reduced to just a few million.
Prison fines will now be replaced by a financial penalty and inspections will be done through unannounced audits, in line with the grading program launched in collaboration with the Syndicate. The MOPH will rank the whole kitchen and restaurant department instead of reviewing particular sections only. The restaurant will be graded over 100 and receive a gold (90-100) or a silver (80-90) certification accordingly. The checklists put in place for the grading program will be a joint effort between the Syndicate and the Ministry. “With this grading system, we are offering each restaurant two chances to amend its situation and upgrade its standards,” Ramy said.
The Syndicate has furthermore signed an agreement with Boecker® and GWR as food safety and hygiene consultants to assess and evaluate the situation of its member companies through secret inspections.
Safer places to eat
“I can confirm that 95 percent of the restaurant sector is currently conforming to this standard, which is excellent,” Ramy said. Rizkallah reinforced the commitment shown by eateries stating that grade ‘A’ restaurant chains have always been investing in food safety.
For newer properties, there has been an improvement of 30 percent, of which 15 percent have transformed food safety measures into a true culture. “Similar destinations have developed standards irrelevant from the actions of the Ministry,” Rizkallah added.
More dedication
Hiring a dedicated quality control staff member is becoming a must. Kobrosly states that the same importance attributed to HR or any other department applies to quality control. “Hygiene is a culture that can’t be implemented without the right person taking care of the establishment,” reaffirmed Abou Merhi. No matter what the size of the property, a quality control staff member is mandatory.
Companies such as Boecker® and GWR train people in this process. A specialized ‘Training Center’ was initiated by the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, where both Boecker® and GWR have conducted free food safety trainings for around 1,000 food handlers.
Long-awaited law
According to MP Atef Majadalani, head of Parliament’s Public Health Committee, the food safety law was finally issued. The Presidency of the Council of Ministers will shortly begin the task of preparing its implementation decrees, including the formation of the ‘Food Safety Lebanese Commission’ and naming its members. “The members of the committee will be academics deriving from different sectors related to food safety and hygiene,” Majdalani commented. The committee will be tasked with controlling, reviewing and resolving all food safety-related concerns and incidents, including suppliers. It will have an executive body with several units and will include employees from the public sector. “The campaign of the MOPH acted as a catalyzer and driver to issue the law,” Majdalani added. A draft law was first prepared in 2006.
From one crisis to another
Another crisis is currently worsening… garbage! The accumulation of non-treated trash has resulted in a mass of bags, bugs and pests and people and hospitality establishments are suffering alike.
Solutions include integrated pest management and UV devices. “There is a solution that can be implemented at the restaurants which will control the presence of flies and the request for this service has increased lately,” said Kobrosly. She also highlighted the rising demand for advanced glue trap ‘Fly Killer’ machines.
In the same direction, Boecker has partnered with the Syndicate of Owners of Restaurants, Cafes, Night Clubs and Pastries in Lebanon to implement a threeday flying insects’ management program in Beirut last November. The company initiated its FICP™ (Flying Insects Control Plan) Treatment to fight off insects from the early hours in Achrafieh, Beirut beginning with the Gemmayzeh district. The activity involved Sassine Square, Mar Mikhael, Hamra, Uruguay Street and Badaro, where there is a high concentration of restaurants and food outlets.
Before applying pesticide, sophisticated sanitation systems must be installed in the restaurants. However, as Carine Barakat, managing director for Entotox Public Health notes, establishments are more recently aware of the importance of hiring a pest controller.
Long-term planning
Looking ahead, Kfoury believes that the coming year will witness no drastic change although she is hopeful that “Every step forward is a better step. Rising awareness and educating people is good.”
According to Georges Hanna, business line manager at Bluefield Public Health, “We should be optimistic and spread this awareness educating people from early on about food safety in order to develop this culture in our society.”
Rizkallah remained firm by stating, “What really matters is how to move from this point, in a way to guarantee that the issue is not shadowed by any other event or crisis. The main concern is to turn this into a more sustainable solution, to guarantee it’s still here even 20 years from now.”
"The enforcement campaign done by the Ministry of Public Health and other stakeholders had a good impact on the F&B sector. Sustaining such an effort through a close coordination between the public and private sector is important for its longevity. Boecker® had played an important role in drafting food safety laws in UAE and we are very keen and continuing in this direction in Lebanon and other countries we operate. Being a reference in public health comes with a responsibility that we fully embrace," said Kobrosly.