Latest update April 25th, 2024 12:59 AM
Mar 31, 2010 News
By Sharmain Cornette
City Hall may soon be moving to resume the grading of restaurants and food processing facilities in the city in an attempt to ensure that citizens are afforded only wholesome foods. This disclosure was made recently by Public Relations Officer, Royston King, who revealed that this approach was successfully utilised by the municipality in the past. However, with the phasing out of this measure, it has been observed that the standards of some food establishments have considerably depreciated over the years.
“We did this because we recognised the need for citizens to know how well their restaurants are doing in terms of providing wholesome foods for them. So perhaps we need to look at restarting the process of grading these eating places.”
According to King, this matter will be brought to the attention of the municipality’s Medical Officer of Health, Dr Bizuayehi Jeffrey, under whose purview the initiation of the proposed move falls.
However, in the interim, the municipality through its meat and food inspectorate has been investigating various eating establishments. But though this has been a routine practice, it has been somewhat inconsistent due to the shortage of staff and other resources.
“We have been trying our best under the circumstances but we have been getting some complaints about certain restaurants in the city and we are taking action.”
Hotels that are known for preparing foods will also come under scrutiny, according to Chief Vector Control Officer, Kenneth Stephens.
He revealed that his department is engaged in yearly exercise to conduct inspection activities of hotels around the city, adding that while there are some facilities that are on par with international standards, there are some barely on the borderline.
The purpose of this annual engagement, he said, is to ensure that these facilities are registered and certified once they reach the minimum public health requirement as outlined by the municipality.
Stephens warned that owners of hotels, guesthouses and apartment buildings around the city should cooperate with the municipality by paying their registration fees once they have been given approval to operate.
The call for the grading of eating places comes on the heels of attempts by the municipality to halt the operation of food and fruit vendors who do not comply with hygienic rules and regulations. These vendors, according to King, will come under the microscope in a matter of weeks, as the municipality is currently streamlining a massive campaign aimed at stamping out all operations that do not comply with the relevant requirements needed to undertake a food business.
To this end an emergency meeting was engaged last week by the municipality’s Medical Officer of Health. King said that during the meeting concerns about the way that foods are currently being prepared and sold in various parts of the city were expressed by the Medical Officer.
He added that it was decided that the campaign would commence within the next two weeks where officials of the council will seek to destroy foods that are sold by persons who have not been approved by council. Defaulters will even stand the risk of being charged as well.
Additionally, fruits presented in styrofoam platters wrapped in plastic have also been a cause for concern as it has been observed by municipal officials that some even use a cutting surface that may not constitute a hygienic situation. And then there is the added problem of the fruits being stored at a temperature that is not suitable for their preservation and consumption, King added.
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