91% of food establishments in Dubai comply with hygiene regulations

Inspections carried out by Dubai Municipality before and during the first week of the Holy Month of Ramadan have confirmed that 91 percent of food establishments that display food outside are complying with the hygiene regulations of the Municipality.

The inspection also found eight foodstuff warehouses that are non-compliant.

Sultan Ali Al Tahir, Head of Food Inspection Section in Dubai Municipality, said, "We have carried out inspection campaigns at consumer complexes, supermarkets and hypermarkets, as well as food warehouses that store foodstuff for consumption during Ramadan such as rice, sugar, flour and some Ramadan products. We have found that eight of them did not meet the health requirements."

He pointed out that the section has been monitoring various activities during Ramadan to ensure that consumers in the Emirate of Dubai are happy and are eating healthy food. "We started our preparations for Ramadan before the beginning of the month. We have also focused on food establishments that display snacks for sale, Ramadan Night Market, and Ramadan tents, where activity was extended until the early hours of the morning," said Al Tahir.

He said the campaign covered 34 consumer complexes, which were selected because of Ramadan offers. "The inspection visits will continue throughout Ramadan to ensure that the storage is in proper hygienic conditions and conform to the general health requirements set by the municipality. We will check both foodstuff storage and display of Ramadan food to ensure compliance with the requirements," said Al Tahir.

He added that the inspectors monitored six major violations in some warehouses and complexes, the most important of which is the display of food in large quantities due to overcrowding in storage, placing it on the ground without protection, and the low level of hygiene in some compounds. "Some items were affected by the presence of pests such as rodents and insects," said Al Tahir.

He said that the section also inspected restaurants, cafeterias, catering companies and bakeries that have the practice of externally displaying snacks, especially before Iftar.

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