Covid-19 protocol: How Dubai ensures food safety amid pandemic

Dubai Municipality has inspected over 69,000 food establishments for safety and adherence to Covid-19 protocols since the beginning of this year.

According to Sultan Al Taher, director of the Food Safety Department at Dubai Municipality, the number of establishments inspected this year was much higher than the annual average of 45,000 inspections conducted by the authority every year.

“Municipality inspected a higher number of establishments to ensure Covid-19 safety precautions are being adhered to. Dubai Municipality has ramped up inspections of food outlets,” Al Taher told Khaleej Times. A total of 69,025 outlets have been inspected since the beginning of this year. “By the end of December, we would’ve inspected close to 70,000 outlets or more,” said the official.

“We have regular food safety checklists, and we also ensure pandemic-related precautions are followed,” he explained. Moreover, the general compliance rate of the food establishments that underwent inspections stood at 90 per cent, he added.

Food establishments include all outlets related to the food sector, including restaurants, cafeterias, supermarkets, food kiosks, etc. Defaulting outlets face temporary closures, and, in some cases, outlets perform corrective actions in one-day.

In the case of critical or high-risk violations, the maximum closure time imposed on the food establishments is one week. “The response time from the health inspectors are fast and efficient,” Al Taher added.

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What are common mistakes made by food outlets?

According to Al Taher, common mistakes made by food outlets maintaining personal hygiene and lack of training among staff, for example. “In some cases, the establishments are not clean, or there is a low level of personal hygiene,” he added. Most of the violations committed are minor errors, and some are repetitive.

The official also said the Municipality would continue to remain cautious and maintain high standards of cleanliness in a food establishment in the coming year. “We will continue to monitor food establishments to ensure they adhere to Covid-19 protocols in the coming year,” explained Al Taher.

Municipality action plan

Other than routine inspections, examiners also responded to customer tip-offs placed by the general public. “We had several surprise checks even during the weekends, emergencies, and public holidays, for example,” Al Taher said.

Dubai Municipality receives several complaints from customers on the 800900 helplines. “We receive an average f 15 complaints per day. However, the number of calls about Covid-19 have reduced since July this year,” he added. “We do get several calls that are unrelated to us as well,” said Al Taher.

dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com