Inspection finds 7% of food stores non-compliant

An inspection campaign conducted by the Food Control Section of Dubai Municipality across foodstuff warehouses in Dubai has revealed that 7% of the establishments visited were not complying with legal hygiene requirements.

The campaign — which covered 257 warehouses storing foodstuffs, including dry, chilled and frozen food items — was launched this summer, as part of an effort to ensure the health and safety of food traded in the emirate.

Sultan Al Tahir, head of the Product Control Section of the Food Control Department, said: “The campaign, which resulted in issuing fines for 144 establishments, stressed to all stores the need to adhere to the approved hygiene requirements of the Municipality.”

Tahir addeds that although most warehouses inspected received good assessments, 18 warehouses were found to be “not complying with the existing hygiene requirements of Dubai Municipality”.

“They were instructed them to comply with the requirements and the need to modify their status,” he said.

According to Tahir, prominent violations in the institutions at fault were the accumulation of storage and the lack of proper ventilation system while preserving the food.

He noted that good conservation of foodstuffs depends on knowing and maintaining the appropriate conditions for storage, to protect them from contamination.