Food outlets face intense scrutiny by inspectors

Civic inspectors of Al Khor and Al Zakheera municipalities have intensified the inspection drive at food outlets including restaurants, bakeries, meat and confectionery shops ahead of Ramadan. 

They carried out about 1,244 visits to ensure healthy and hygienic food for the people living in the municipal areas.

Inspectors seized and destroyed about 1,385 kilogramme food items and 980 kilogramme fish, which was found unfit for consumption.

“During the inspections we shut down six outlets and another 16 outlets were given warnings and asked to give written assurances of not repeating the violations,” Issa Hasan Al Muhannadi, Director of Health and Hygiene monitoring section of Al Khor and Al Zakhira municipalities was quoted as saying by Al Arab yesterday.

Al Muhannadi said that the inspection drive will be intensified further during the month of Ramadan and will be expanded to Iftar tents, restaurants supplying food for Iftar and Suhoor, and vehicles transporting food items. 

Messes and canteens at labour camps will also be included, he said.

He said that hotels (including five-star properties), drinking water packaging plants, poultry farms and suppliers of poultry products will also be included in the inspection drive.

“Our civic inspectors will collect food samples, including those of poultry products, and send them for testing to the Central Laboratory to find if they are fit for human consumption,” he said.

Al Muhannadi also said that officials at the municipality are working in close cooperation with the Community Police and Consumer Protection Department (CPD), a consumer rights protection arm of the Ministry of Economy and Commerce.

“As my department is equally responsible for ensuring healthy and hygienic food for the people living in the municipality, we are sparing no efforts to enforce the food law effectively,” he said.

The Peninsula