Food Safety Department of Dubai Municipality has improved its food control standards for the holy month of Ramadan to check the safe preparation, display and preservation of all types of food and beverages.
The Head of the Food Inspection Section in the Food Safety Department in the Municipality, Sultan Al Tahir said that this is due to the increased quantities of preparations in Ramadan and to assure the health and safety of the consumers.
He said, preparations were started a month ago by conducting inspections in food warehouses and traditional kitchens especially of Ramadan food to improve their hygiene level.
Sultan Al Tahir also said the municipality will ensure the safety of ready to eat foods and also follow up on bakeries, confectioneries and factories of dairy products.
The municipality inspected 80 food establishments operating in the Emirates this week including food warehouses, where foodstuff is stored for sale to major food stores during Ramadan.
The team inspected warehouses, which contained various kinds of food items and other materials to assure they are stored in proper hygienic conditions.
Inspectors are checking the food stored in these shops on daily basis and the display of Ramadan products.
“The temperature level should be more than 65 C for hot storage and less than 5 for cold storage.”
He also said, “We do not allow food to be displayed throughout the day in Ramadan but we have set its time as two hours before Iftar and during that period.”
Al Tahir said, “We have sent circulars to all food departments in this regard in different languages to ensure the commitment of all. The circular includes the necessary hygiene conditions and requirements to be met in the external supply operations. The most important among them is the hot and cold food preservation processes, protection of food from external pollutants and the need to ensure that the food establishments meet the requirements for the transfer, storage, preparation and display of food products.”
