Dubai: Food establishments in Dubai saw a qualitative improvement in their standards of hygiene last year, according to a Dubai Municipality statistical report for 2010.
"The report has highlighted a boom of quality improvement in food establishments and also improvement in [the] field performance of the inspectors in the evaluation of establishments as per the strategic directions for the Food Control Department," Ahmad Abdul Rahman Al Ali, head of the Food Inspection Section at Dubai Municipality, said.
The amount of fines fell by 50 per cent compared to 2009. The rates of fines also fell, in relation to inspection visits, from 28 per cent in 2009 to which was 14 per cent in 2010.
Significant reduction
The year 2010 saw a significant reduction in the number of violations, with 7,778 violations registered as compared to 14,188 violations in 2009.
"The main violations were related to ready-to-serve food temperature, which must be kept above 65 degrees Celsius, and general hygiene, such as the cleanliness of floors and food preparation tools," Al Ali said.
He added that compliance increased from 91 per cent in 2009 to 95 per cent last year.
The rate of inspection visits increased from 28,412 in 2009 to 34,762 routine visits in 2010.
Al Ali said some violations require a some time to fix. In this case, the establishment is given a grace period and may be suspended in the meanwhile, depending on the gravity of the problem.
Municipality inspectors show less tolerance if an offence is repeated. "The first time, a warning is issued. On the second the establishment is fined, and on [the] third incident, it is suspended or closed down," Al Ali added.
"Our inspectors' aim is to educate, not only to look out for violations and issue fines, and if a violation is found, they work with the concerned establishment to ensure that it is not repeated," he said.
"They work to raise food hygiene awareness among people working in food establishments and correct any wrong practices, as well as follow up on the implementation of the right measures at all times to prevent food contamination and all causes of food poisoning," Al Ali said.
Although the ‘Person in Charge' system, which assigns one person in each establishment as the point of contact with the municipality, has not been fully implemented, Al Ali expects that it will help further cut down violations related to food hygiene and preparation.
- 7,778: number of violations in 2010
- 14,188: violations recorded in 2009
- 50%: drop in number of violations in 2010
- 34,762: inspections at food outlets in 2010
