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Six tonnes of expired food items confiscated in Ajman

AJMAN — Ajman Municipality yesterday confiscated six tonnes of expired cheese and vegetables used in manufacturing 'Samosa', a popular Indian snack, from the premises of a food company.

Health inspectors detected the company's malpractice during a routine inspection of food outlets and manufacturers. The vegetable and cheese items were found unfit for human consumption after it was analysed yesterday by Ajman Food and Environment Central Laboratory which also found that the confiscated items had exceeded the expiry date.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Dr. Mohammed Attia, Acting Director of Health Section at the municipality, said that the municipality would not tolerate anybody who tries to sell these kinds of harmful food products to the public.

“The Laboratory in coordination with health section inspectors test every month more than 103 food samples of various types of food products to ensure that the food markets are abiding by the health regulations laid down by the civic body,” he said.

He said the food inspections had been intensified due to rampant malpractice of selling rotten food products in local markets in Ajman which can seriously affect public health .

He explained that in Ajman all the licensed food outlets have refrigerators, but they don't keep the meat in cool temperatures which would prevent formation of bacteria that causes infection. Most food outlets try and ration the use of electricity so keep the meat and vegetable products outside the refrigerators in the humid conditions causing easy contamination after they are left in the open for about six to eight hours.

“Food inspectors of the municipality are putting in great efforts to regularly monitor the market to ensure the quality of food,” he stressed. Attia added that the consumers always expect high level of quality in food products. But some of the food shops do not abide by the municipality's regulations of storage, and fail to keep the food such as meat and cheese in the freezer..

He said that there are certain measures being undertaken by the Municipality to assure a fresh, high quality of food for the consumer in Ajman. The municipality, he said, has assured that the food products now available in the market are safe having passed through all quarantine tests and is fit for human consumption.

"All imported food containers at Ajman port are subjected to inspections by the municipality's qualified inspectors who are authorized to issue health certificates or No objection letters.These certificates should be issued with respect to the condition of the goods," Dr. Attia noted

He said that the municipality is playing an important role in monitoring the food market to prevent the malpractices and counterfeiting of trade marks and assuring that the ingredients of the food products are fit for consumption.

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