Dubai: A food company operating in the UAE has been caught selling frozen chicken weighing less than the weight mentioned on their labels.
The food fraud, said to be the first of its kind reported in Dubai, has prompted the Dubai Municipality to check and verify that weight of frozen chicken are as per the labels and consumers are not cheated.
The Food Safety Department at the municipality launched an investigation after some residents flagged the dubious practice by a company, the civic body said on Saturday.
The department said samples of frozen chicken were collected from the market and one company was found selling poultry that weighed less than the weight mentioned in the lables. “The results showed some discrepancies in the chicken weights. The company has been informed and it took corrective actions to prevent a recurrence in the future reporting. Now, the market is being checked to make sure the chicken weights are accurate as part of the municipality’s procedures and control campaigns,” the civic body said on social media on Saturday.
Details of the discrepancies were not immediately clear.
When contacted, a senior official told Gulf News that action had been taken against the violating company as per the existing laws.
However, he could not provide the details of the case and the penalties.
The official said it was for the first time that the municipality had detected a case of this nature in Dubai.
“The weights of frozen chickens are usually rounded off. In most cases, the weight of frozen chicken is found to be a little more than what is mentioned on the labels,” he noted.
According to him, a discrepancy of up to 50 grams in the actual weight and labelled weight of frozen chicken is permissible. “There could be minor variations if the companies are not accurately calibrating their scales and balances. A difference of up to 50 grams is allowed. But any discrepancy beyond that needs to be investigated,” he added.
