Abu Dhabi: To ensure that every potential meal is a healthy experience for students, the Abu Dhabi Food and Control Authority (ADFCA) has carried out inspections across bakeries that supply food items to school canteens in the capital.
Six different teams inspected 22 facilities ahead of the approaching academic year, of which 11 were served with warnings for failing to comply with the Authority’s established rules and regulations.
“Cleanliness of the premises as well as that of the workers’, storing food items and maintaining accurate meal temperatures are some of the most common violations we tend to come across,” an ADFCA inspector told Gulf News, speaking on the sidelines of one of the evaluation tours held today (Wednesday).
“Before carrying out inspections across eateries in the capital, we look at whether the ADFCA notebook — which contains comments from previous visits — has been kept, and if the Authority’s training licence has been obtained and is also present on the premises,” he added.
The authority reported that eight kilos of sub-standard products had to be immediately seized.
During one of the tours held at one of the bakeries today (Wednesday), ADFCA kept an eye on whether workers were wearing a coat and a mask to achieve maximum levels of safety and hygiene.
The Authority also scanned fridge temperatures, which ought to be between 0-4 degrees Celsius, sanitation and other ingredients stored in jars such as sugar, butter, and milk powder, among others.
This bakery was also inspected the week before and one of the main drawbacks was that not all the staff members had undergone ADFCA’s training sessions. Currently, 70 per cent of the bakery’s employees have completed them, of whom 50 per cent were able to pass.
Considered to be the authorised body to carry out inspections pertaining to food items in Abu Dhabi, ADFCA continues to implement regular examination checks across school canteens prior to the commencement of an academic term to ensure that owners adhere to the rules and regulations stipulated by them.
Maisoon Mubarak is a trainee at Gulf News
