• Home

Erring food firms must be strictly dealt with

The company used to forge the production and expiry dates of the catch before supplying the adulterated stuff to known and leading restaurants in the country.

The incident raised many eyebrows. A violation was reported against the same company five years ago for selling unfit fish. Had the offending company been ordered to close down at that time, or had stiff penalty been imposed on it, or had the one who ordered and arranged the selling of the adulterated fish been prosecuted and penalised — as his act could cause the death of others, or at least resulted in making them suffer from food poisoning, diseases and epidemics — the company wouldn’t have done the same act once again.

The second point is that if the company was precisely and thoroughly inspected last year and more than once, it could have realised that the unfit fish must be dumped away. But it is unfortunate that the unfit fish, which was seized on Wednesday, had the validity date expired for a year, without it being noticed all this while.

So, what is needed is the launching of monthly inspection campaigns to ensure that health rules and regulations are strictly observed. Public health is extremely important. Names of those who were proved to be involved in such violations should be struck off the records of the economic departments countrywide, and they should not be allowed to practice any trade or industrial work. Moreover, they should be referred to the court of justice to stand trial.

• UAE