DUBAI, 10 October 2006 — Municipal officials in Dubai have stepped up efforts to ensure food safety at restaurants, cafeterias and all other food outlets during Ramadan.
The civic body has already laid out standards for cleanliness and hygiene for Ramadan tents.
A top municipal official has advised the public against unhygienic handling various food items in Ramadan.
Khalid Sharif, assistant director of Public Health Department and head of Food Control Section at the municipality, advised consumers to stock perishable food items for no more than a week.
“Buying large quantities of food and stocking them for longer periods can result in unpredictable damage to health,” he said.
He also urged shoppers not to stack easily perishable goods in their shopping trolleys for long time.
“The purchase of such goods should be delayed until the last minutes of shopping. We see people spending a lot of time inside supermarkets and shopping centers and some of them start purchasing these kinds of goods at the beginning of their round which is not advisable,” he said.
Sharif said food quality measures are enforced at the time of importing the goods through the city’s ports, importers’ warehouses, transporting methods and at the retail outlets.
“Special inspections are being carried out at the tents serving food during Ramadan and penalties being imposed in case of any violation,” he said.
He added that cafés offering the sheesha (hookah) have been asked to store tobacco and foodstuffs separately to avoid food contamination.
