Food safety to be monitored in Dubai 24/7

Municipal inspectors will cover all eateries and markets during the holidays

Teams of Dubai Municipality food inspectors will work round the clock during the Eid Al Fitr holiday, the civic body said yesterday.

The inspection teams will specially follow food poison issues by being available 24/7 to check these cases or attend to public complaints or suggestions, the municipality said in a press release.

“We will not sleep during the Eid, which is in line with the initiative of ‘Dubai: City that never sleeps’, which was launched with the aim of providing entertainment, tourism and trade without break even during the holidays for the visitors as well as residents,” said Sultan Al Taher, head of the Food Inspection Section in the Food Safety Department.

“The Food Safety Department will make sure that its inspectors are always available in all shopping malls in order to be close to the public and to look into their complaints faster and address any problems that occur due to negligence or non-adherence to the food safety standards, rules and regulations applied by the municipality,” he said.

“Certain food establishments will be experiencing heavy consumption, especially in public restaurants, markets and malls. In order to maintain the overall health of consumers and ensure food safety, especially the popular Arabic sweets shops, bakeries, fruits and vegetable markets, where there will be increasing demand during the Eid period, the Food Inspection Section has completed all necessary preparations ahead of Eid Al Fitr.

“The inspection teams were given directives to focus on food establishments, especially pastry and chocolate shops, even before Eid holidays to ensure the application of best practices that prevent contamination of these products, especially cross-contamination with the workers.”

Al Taher stressed the need for workers of food establishments to have commitment to the highest standards of personal hygiene. He also said the municipality will implement a new plan to ensure that 87 popular kitchens in the emirate apply the HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) requirements of the Food Safety Department.