Dubai: The safety and nutrition of each meal that will be served to the 25 million visitors expected at Dubai Expo 2020 will be monitored using smart technology, a senior official said on Monday.
The Food Watch digital platform launched by Dubai Municipality on Sunday will play a big role in monitoring and ensuring food safety at the expo site, said Sultan Ali Al Tahir, head of food inspection section at the Food Safety Department.
Speaking at a session on the second day of the 11th Dubai International Food Safety Conference, Al Tahir said Dubai Municipality will also publish specific guidelines for food establishments planning to operate at the Expo 2020 site.
There will be special permits also for the operators since the expo will last only for six months and there will be food businesses coming from abroad as well.
“We need to publish [the guidelines] in different languages as there will be people from various countries planning to have operations at the site,” said Al Tahir.
He said there will be special approval process for equipment, facilities etc. “All these will be done online.”
“Specific training materials will also be issued to guide participants. This too will be online.”
With the help of Food Watch, all monitoring including temperature control of food will be done digitally. “There will be no paper records.”
Consumers at the expo site will get all information about the food — menu, nutrition, allergen alert, etc. This will be facilitated through a mobile app, the Food Watch interface for consumers in the pipeline.
The app will also show the locations of the eateries, modes of transport to reach them and available parking spaces to help expo visitors dine in peace and style.
Al Tahir said there will be a connected food monitoring system at the massive expo site. “Details of food preparation areas and food handlers will be available on the system. All vending machines, food trucks and freezers will also be monitored.”
The municipality will also provide the laboratory support for the effective implementation of the food safety programme for the expo.
The expo site is projected to have over 50 million meal occasions, said Darren Tse, head of Catering, Cleaning and Waste Management — Expo 2020.
Approximately 85,000 meals are expected to be served per hour through over 200 food and beverage outlets at the sprawling 438 hectare site, he said.
Food supply worth Dh650 million and food and beverage revenue worth Dh2 billion are also forecast for the six months of the expo.
The safety of the food served to the 25 million visitors including 2.2 million schoolchildren is of paramount importance, said Tse.
“We have 173 days of operation at the expo. We will have 30,000 people working on the site every single day. We need to make sure they get proper, safe food as well.”
