Relentless campaign seeks to ensure people’s food safety
Food vendors and eateries in Qatar will have to prove that the meat used for barbecuing and for making kebabs and other preparations throughout Ramadan is fresh, local media reported.
The relentless campaign seeks to ensure that the outlets used the meat on the day it was bought and that the storage of meat overnight for use the next day would not be allowed during the fasting month when demand for food peaks.
Municipalities across the country will make surprise visits to ensure that they strictly follow civic health and safety rules, Qatari daily The Peninsula said on Thursday.
“All vendors and eateries will have to make sure that they use fresh meat and exhaust the stock the day it is bought. Purchase receipts with dates will be required to be produced by the eateries as proof of the meat’s freshness,” sources told the newspaper. “Civic inspectors could demand that an outlet show them the spices and other ingredients used in food preparation to make sure they are of good quality and safe for use.”
All food vendors will be given special licences to sell all kinds of snacks and other fast popular food items and health certificates that can be required by inspectors armed with judicial powers. No outlet will be allowed to bring food for sale which is prepared elsewhere. All food preparations must be made in authorised places. Other strict conditions include changing oil once frying is over.
Civic inspectors will be conducting checks on shopping centres and smaller retail outlets, including neighbourhood stores, to make sure that the food items for sale are safe to consume. Vendors will be visited by the municipal inspectors a little before ‘iftar’ (the meal used to break the fast) in the evenings for surprise checks. Later in the evenings, inspectors will conduct visits in permanent eateries. Catering companies that supply ‘iftar’ meals to charitable agencies for group feasts will also be subjected to surprise visits.
