UAE minister allays fears over food safety

Abu Dhabi: Dr Rashid Ahmad Bin Fahd, Minister of Environment and Water, says the food safety situation in the UAE was not “grim”.

“The UAE, the gate of food for more than 1.5 billion people, imports more than 86 per cent of foods consumed in the country and only 3 per cent of these foods are rejected for labelling and not quality-related issues. Millions visit the UAE and food safety tops our priorities,” Bin Fahd said, citing that the UAE has an effective food monitoring system and it was the first country in the world to carry out food poisoning tests of pistachio nuts in 1996.

Bin Fahd said the UAE enforces articles of CODEX which ensure that the food is compliant with quality standards in relation to public cleanliness and nutritional value.

The measures implemented include microbiological analysis and control over food additive substances, veterinary drug debris, pesticides and toxic waste. CODEX also requires that the foodstuff ingredients and information be displayed on the containers and that samples are taken and analysed.

Tips

Eat salad greens grown by hydroponics (without soil) or in your private garden.

E. Coli will not be killed by rinsing alone, but you can add half a capful of bleach to the water and let it soak for 5 minutes. Then transfer to another sink with cold water and no bleach, and let it soak another 5 minutes before rinsing.

Rinse well, and use no more than a very small amount of bleach diluted in a large sinkful of water. Using bleach may sound a little extreme, and for consumers at home, it generally is. Growers and produce processors, however, routinely use chlorine to kill bacteria.

Do not eat jarjeer and other vegetables grown or stored with it in stores.

Jarjeer in restaurants is also very dirty with coliform, a thousand times greater than a worker who does not wash his hands after going to the toilet.

Even if the jarjeer looks very clean and healthy it still harbours thousands of E. coli and salmonella per helping (30g or less).

Authorities can protect people’s health by requiring farms to stop fertilising vegetable greens with liquefied or raw manure and use methods that reduce contamination from dust and dirt.