Dubai: Dubai Municipality temporarily shut down 94 food outlets for hygiene violations, while more than 1,400 received top food safety ratings in the first half of 2017.
Sultan Ali Al Taher, head of Food Inspection Section in the Food Safety Department at Dubai Municipality, said 94 food establishments, which were ordered to close, were given time to modify their status and clear all the violations related to hygiene and unhealthy practices, expired foodstuffs, and the presence of spoiled foods.
“At the same time, 1,409 food establishments in Dubai received Excellent and Gold ratings during the first half of 2017,” he said in a press release issued on Thursday.
Hygiene
He said the major violations at the eateries that were shut were related to hygiene issues and the Municipality inspectors directed them to take immediate corrective action.
The Municipality closed those establishments for up to three hours to modify their status and clean the premises before getting the right evaluation.
Some of the closures were due to the presence of insects in the outlets, which had to be informed to the company contracted to clean up in order to lift the violation.
The inspectors also noticed violations related to sanitation, requiring their closures to prevent the restaurants from operating until modifying their status. “Some irregularities included non-compliance of the establishment with the commercial activity approved in the licence.”
Al Taher pointed out that all the closures ordered by the inspectors of the Food Safety Department during this period were of high-risk establishments.
“We do not close less dangerous outlets because they do not commit many violations that directly affect consumers, but their violations are related to administration, which are required to be corrected during the time the inspector visits,” he said.
During this period, the inspectors of the department carried out 15,681 inspection visits, including visits to confirm the 1,733 notifications received by the Municipality Call Centre at a rate of nine communications a day.
“We receive several communications from consumers, but they must be confirmed before deciding whether or not to issue fines,” said Al Taher.
Corrective measures
“The visits showed that 997 communications were incorrect and 954 communications (55 per cent of the total notifications) were correct and they were dealt with immediately. Some food outlets took corrective measures before the inspector arrived to ascertain the facts about the complaint. Some customers had threatened them about complaining to the Municipality.”
He reiterated that the Municipality follows up, with concern, the reports and observations received from the public through the Call Centre, and conducts checks on food establishments, including warehouses and restaurants, to take the necessary corrective measures as per the Local Order No. 11 of 2003.
“Out of the 1,409 food outlets that were awarded Excellent and Gold rating during the evaluation, 774 have received the Gold rating and 2,455 received Very Good. There were 1,991 establishments that received Good rating.”
A total of 585 establishments received Acceptable rating while 82 were evaluated Weak, the official said, noting that the number of outlets that received the rating of Acceptable and Weak has become less compared to the previous years, whereas those who got Excellent and Gold have increased.
Al Taher said that violations in the summer increase because of high temperatures, as the heat directly affects the food and damages it faster, and poor storage and ventilation add to the issue.
In numbers:
– 1,733 notifications were received by the Municipality Call Centre about food establishments
– 15,681 inspection visits were carried out
– 774 outlets received the Gold rating and 2,455 received Very Good
