As Temperatures Soar, Food Poisoning Risks Rise

HEALTH HAZARD: Storing and cooking food in unhygienic conditions pose a threat to public health.

JEDDAH: The health of citizens is a priority and receives the highest attention of authorities to ensure that the work environment, where food is processed and prepared, enjoys the highest level of cleanliness in all aspects, in addition to the human element working in all areas of the food industry.

However, many are demanding that environmental health departments control and supervise all facilities and issues relevant to the health of citizens in terms of compliance with procedures and requirements to guarantee the quality and safety of food in restaurants, kitchens, bakeries and other shops involved in the manufacture and provision of food, especially during the summer where the heat is expected this year to go beyond 47°C. Such high temperatures are a health hazard if owners and operators of restaurants and kitchens are lax in the application of the requirements for the proper storage of food.

“People go to restaurants almost on a daily basis. This is not a second choice anymore with this modern lifestyle and this is why it is very important that restaurants strictly abide by, and adhere to the highest standards of hygiene issues and cleanliness,” said Mishal Al-Mufadli, a citizen. “It is now necessary to pursue new and sophisticated methods in this area and to benefit from the available technology and social networking sites to monitor for violations,” he explained.

Another citizen, Hazaa Al-Janoubi, described his experience with restaurants as bitter in terms of cleanliness and hygiene.

“The real problem is that workers do not adhere to the requirement of hygiene standards in preparing meals, such as wearing gloves and covering their hair. And now with the summer heat, workers could endanger consumers’ health,” he added.

Mohammad Al-Rashid pointed to the display of foodstuff inside shops and food outlets of all types, while Abdulaziz Al-Zahrani stressed the importance of maintaining a healthy environment at all stages of food processing, adding: “Citizens always choose the restaurants renowned for their high standards of cleanliness.”

Falah Al-Dosari, director general of environmental health in the Riyadh region, said food monitoring of restaurants is increased during summer due to the possibility of food going bad. “The Riyadh municipality has over 17,000 kitchens, restaurants and cafés under close and focused supervision of environmental health staff and inspectors this summer where there is the possibility of food poisoning,” he added.

Al-Dosari said in order to raise the level of control, the municipality developed the app “Take advantage and contribute.” It was launched to assess and monitor the quality of food and hygiene issues in restaurants in the capital through receiving and evaluating consumer comments and observations on restaurants and cafés.

Mohammad Al-Jowair, head of the emergency unit at the General Directorate of Environmental Health at Riyadh municipality, said the number of reports received by the emergency unit, over a span of seven months, was 15,283 reports, including 4,480 of rotten foodstuffs; 1,584 of the low level of cleanliness of facilities; 1,131 of food expiration dates; 1,626 of uncovered hair; 467 of inconsistent food storage procedures; 291 of poisoning incidents; 281 of the lack of price tags; 283 of violations in bakeries. The rest included irregularities in slaughterhouses, labor violations and others.

(Source: ArabNews.com)