What do you think of hygiene and food safety education in the region?
I’m glad to say that the level of hygiene in the UAE is quite high, due to the vigilance of ADFCA inspection teams. The Authority has a comprehensive programme in place to educate the hospitality industry on food safety management and its regulations; this was done through many workshops that ADFCA conducted with its stakeholders. Moreover, the Codes of Practice and the project of Salamat Zadna (for small businesses) were a major support, helping all the F&B outlets to have clear information on what is required by ADFCA.
What more can be done to ensure chefs in the region have the resources they need to ensure, and promote, food safety in their operations?
As food safety is part of every chef’s training, it should be second nature for him or her to follow safe practices when preparing food but, with busy schedules, it may not always be the case. Having regular workshops conducted by ADFCA with chefs helps ensure they follow up-to-date regulations. Having a dedicated hygiene and quality team, such as at Royal Catering, to supervise operations on an hourly and daily basis, ensures better compliance with ADFCA regulations, as they will be knowledgeable about the latest guidelines and regulations in industry standards, and they will inspect and ensure corrective action is taken whenever non-conformity is witnessed. They will also hold regular training sessions and workshops for the kitchen staff to refresh their hygiene training and enhance their knowledge with regards to food safety and good hygienic practices such as cleaning, preventive maintenance and pest control.
What is Royal Catering focusing on throughout 2016?
We have just launched ‘82L8’ (8 to late), a new grab-and-go dining concept, featuring more than 60 nutritious meals, salads, sandwiches, snacks, drinks and desserts. It will be available across Abu Dhabi when we open the outlets, install new vending machines, and roll out trolley recharge stations for offices. Our quality control officers are present in the Royal Catering kitchens to ensure that quality standards are strictly adhered to and also to monitor our chefs to safeguard product consistency of every food item produced.
As well as working with ADFCA, we have been working with the Health Authority of Abu Dhabi (HAAD) to ensure that 82L8 food includes many items that are Weqaya-compliant. You’ll find the Weqaya logo on many of our 82L8 products, as well as their nutritional values.
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