Dubai restaurants advised to improve hygiene standards

Restaurants in Dubai are under pressure to improve their food and hygiene standards with the Dubai Municipality intensifying monitoring after an uproar over the recent deaths of two children through food poisoning. Following a few cases of food poisoning reported from Dubai, the most famous of which resulted in the deaths of siblings Chelsea and Nathan D'Souza last month, the Dubai Municipality has stepped up its inspection of restaurants and other eateries and advised many of them to improve quality standards. The municipality also recently conducted a food safety awareness campaign under the banner "Food Safety is our Priority". Small- and medium-size restaurants said they can improve by introducing new kitchen equipment. Speaking to Emirates Business, Sumesh Govind, Managing Director of a chain of Indian restaurants, Salkara and Calicut Paragon, said: "Restaurants in Dubai have been advised by the Dubai Municipality to instal new bane maries and chillers to keep food at appropriate temperatures. For a good restaurant with sufficient business, it is not difficult to invest Dh3,000 overnight to instal these kitchen equipment. However, it is a time of recession and restaurants are also affected. Business is down by 10 to 30 per cent and many small and medium sized restaurants cannot afford to make any investments now." He said such restaurants should get sufficient time to improve their kitchenware, as they may not be able to afford the cost of new equipment at present. Restaurants in the city are not gaining from the decline in rents or the fall in food prices, he said. The Indian restaurant chain, which is celebrating 70 years of being in business back home, has managed to get a certificate from Khalid Mohammed Sharif Al Awadi, Director of the Food Control Department of Dubai Municipality. Govind said it requires an investment of Dh1 million to start a restaurant in Dubai and the group is planning to open new restaurants in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi. A Dubai Municipality source said inspectors had intensified quality checks in restaurants and cafeterias as a part of measures the body undertakes every summer. "In summer, the frequency of inspections is increased because the chances of food poisoning is more, but the situation in Dubai is better than most other emirates. The current spate of increased inspections is only routine for the summer," he said. The Chinese restaurants in Al Qusais, which supplied the food that allegedly caused the death of the D'Souza siblings, and some other restaurants, have reported lower sales due to public concern about food safety. A restaurant owner in Al Qusais, preferring anonymity, said: "It is not yet confirmed what caused the death of the children and whether the restaurant was responsible for food poisoning. But public sentiment is affected, and there is a drop seen in the number of customers across restaurants." A restaurant owner in Al Qouz area said: "Business is down by 30 per cent as many people have left. However, we are doing well and it is work as usual. We had to reduce the prices of certain items because our rivals have slashed prices to attract customers. "We have reduced the price of a full grilled chicken from Dh15 to Dh10 because a leading supermarket chain in the area started selling grilled chicken for Dh10." He said the catch is in the quantity of chicken sold for Dh10, which is only 800g. "We used to sell a 1.2kg cooked chicken for Dh15 and our competitor is selling 800g for Dh10. When customers flocked to the supermarket, we reduced our price and quantity." Meanwhile, many new restaurants are still being opened in different parts of the city. "We had planned to open the restaurant sometime back and then the economic crisis started. But we decided to go ahead with the plan, because the food business is always a necessity," said an Indian restaurant owner, who is opening a new outlet in Dubai. A cafeteria owner said: "We had to introduce new kitchen equipment because our business demanded it. The price of this equipment varies between Dh3,000 and Dh5,000 and we have invested the money to keep our customers happy." Awareness drive The Food Control Department of Dubai Municipality organised an awareness programme to educate students, undergoing summer training in the civic body. The students, being trained in Municipality's various administrative units, were taught the basic elements of food safety and the importance of healthy practices during the preparation and handling of food. The summer programme, organised as part of the Municipality's keenness to spread health awareness among the younger generation, focused on the category of the children of employees. The Food Control Department also organised a workshop on the importance of the labels on food products. The workshop ended with a trip to Carrefour Hypermarket at Mall of the Emirates, where the students were taught how to check some important information necessary for the selection of different items