Expo 2020 Dubai: Not a single food poisoning case reported in 6 months

The Dubai Municipality inspected and released about 3.5 million tonnes of food shipments imported for Expo 2020 Dubai from 114 countries. Food Safety Department teams verified the shipments’ compliance with the approved requirements and specifications; and the process of releasing each took about 20 minutes.

These came as the Dubai Municipality announced on Wednesday that all food outlets at the Expo complied with food safety rules enforced in the Emirate. Not a single food poisoning case was recorded throughout the six months of Expo 2020.

Sultan Al Taher, director of Food Safety Department, said the civic body’s efforts ensured the health and safety of more than 24 million people who visited the Expo.

“We had started our work well in advance by providing the necessary support and food safety requirements for setting up the outlets in international pavilions. We verified their compliance after completion, in addition to carrying out comprehensive monitoring.

“We had an integrated plan for food control, starting with its import, storage, preparation and transportation, and then its sale at the Expo site.”

He said about 2,500 new food products were registered at the event site.

“Our teams carried out 3,389 periodic inspection visits using the smart system, in addition to daily follow-up visits to verify adherence to food safety requirements throughout the six months,” Al Taher added.

He said the civic body had hosted training sessions for participating outlets about the food safety requirements enforced in Dubai.