3,000 high-risk food outlets in Dubai rated ‘Excellent’

Dubai: Almost 3,000 “high-risk” food establishments in Dubai have received an ‘Excellent’ rating (A+ or A) from the Food Safety Department of Dubai Municipality.

Sultan Ali Al Tahir, head of the Food Inspection Section, on Wednesday said that the establishments included hotels and large restaurants that prepare huge quantities of food.

The high number of excellent ratings “crossed all expectations”, Al Tahir said.

He added: “The increased number of Excellent ratings was the result of the implementation of strategic food safety programmes for the food establishments in the emirate and their adherence to our procedures to raise the hygiene and technical standards to reach this advanced level, most notably the application of HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) system in all hotels and catering companies, and increasing their effectiveness. This system targets the risks related to the food chain — from raw materials to the consumer table.”

Al Tahir said that last year, the inspection teams conducted 32,000 visits to food outlets to ensure that they were complying with the food safety rules of the municipality.

“During the visits, the municipality also closed down 158 food outlets temporarily due to their high-risk violations. The municipality allowed a large number of them to restart the work after meeting the technical specifications and hygiene requirements and fully complying with the food safety rules and regulations of the municipality.”

Al Tahir said an increased number of violations were noticed and temporary closure orders issued during the summer months when the temperatures were high, which negatively affect the safety of food. A sharp decrease was noticed in the number of closures with the beginning of the winter months.

As for the establishments that received lower ratings, “we applied the Smart Inspection Programme, which was designed to identify, figure out and analyse the technical and hygiene risks” and enforce radical solutions and the best practices in food safety to ensure that the violations were not repeated. “This has contributed significantly to raising the ratings of the food establishments,” he added.

“According to the statistics, a significant increase has been noticed in the number of food outlets that received Very Good Rating (B). A total of 5,705 high-risk food establishments such as restaurants and cafeterias received this rating, while 4,107 establishments received Good Rating (C), which confirms the success of the implementation of our Smart Inspection Strategy and the Hygiene Supervisor Programme. It was also noticed that the establishments with E rating has come down significantly.”