Dubai : Companies that handle or process food will have to take more responsibility for safety under the new tough regulations, according to a senior Dubai Municipality official.
Improved training for staff at companies that work with food and a new management system to compel firms to record how food is stored, handled and prepared are expected to come into force at the end of the year.
Khalid Mohammad Sharif Al Awadi, Director of Food Control Section at Dubai Municipality, told XPRESS that the aim was to prevent problems through better education. He said: "People have this impression that testing for food poisoning is a simple matter but in reality it is very difficult to test for bacteria, so what we are aiming to do is prevent problems from occurring in the first place."
Under the new regulations companies will be required to appoint a manager who will be responsible for food safety.
"This would mean checking if the food is stored correctly, monitoring the preparation and dealing with complaints," he said.
The second is to enforce a programme for managers to record the temperatures food is stored and cooked at.
Al Awadi said: "Managers will have to sign on these details in a report, which will be checked by our inspectors who will immediately be able to tell if the rules have not been followed or the figures tampered with. We hope to have this up and running sometime by the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011."
