Dubai civic body prepares for Ramadan

Dubai: To beef up the hygienic level of snacks being sold outdoors during Ramadan, the civic body on Wednesday issued instructions for all food establishments to acquire a municipal permit before displaying and selling their food outside their premises.

The new set of instructions, which will only be applied during the month of Ramadan, were issued to all restaurants, cafeterias, sweet shops, bakeries and catering companies operating in Dubai.

“As we are preparing to observe the holy month from next week, we would like to boost our already well-placed mechanism to ensure the safety of food items sold and served in the city,” said Khalid Sharif, director of food control department at Dubai Municipality.

Sharif explained that as residents are fond of purchasing snacks from a number of different shops before iftar, there is a huge possibility that they forget which shop they bought it from and the level of hygiene and safe conditions the snacks are stored in.

“It is a tradition to display and sell foods outside the establishments during Ramadan but without prior approval from the food control department, no food establishment will be allowed to display or sell snacks outside their premises,” he said.

Sharif urged the public to be alert when purchasing food items from the displayed areas, and not to purchase food from people or businesses that are not authorised to sell them. He also warned consumers not to refrigerate ready-made meals and snacks if they were bought earlier in the day and not properly stored, and that food should be consumed as soon as possible.

According to the new set of instructions, food establishments have to display their approved application along with the list of snacks that they intend to display outside their shops. Permits can be obtained from the Dubai Municipality’s centre at Al Twar, for a fee of Dh210.

As part of the municipality’s aim to ensure public safety throughout Ramadan, several departments have also launched a number of mechanisms and activities that will be applied next week.

The Public Health and Safety Department announced that it plans to carry out inspections in the industrial field and construction sites to ensure the implementation of preventive measures linked to heat stress.

The department also assigned special inspection teams for evening inspections to be carried out in shopping centres, salons, play areas and special events, in addition to random inspections in shops to check that consumer products are not a safety hazard.

The Public Parks and Horticulture Department will hire additional staff to accommodate the new park timings, and the Waste Management Department has assigned teams dedicated to ensure the smooth flow of collecting waste that is expected due to the over-consumption of food.