Ministry intensifies control measures on food outlets

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has intensified its control measures for foods that are imported with the advent of the holy month of Ramadan, along with monitoring restaurants and food outlets’ to check if it goes in line with the health requirements.

In a statement, the Ministry affirmed its eagerness to make sure that the safety of food is being sold to the public, and to ensure that the imported food is complied to the requirements of the health officials.

The Ministry also said it has set up monitoring mechanisms for food establishments by coordinating with charitable organisation in Qatar, through which meals are prepared for the Iftar project, and given to the workers and poor families in need.

The Ministry will also make sure that the food establishments comply with health requirements and COVID-19 preventive measures imposed in the country, throughout food preparation inside the restaurant, packaging and transportation.

Director of Food Safety and Environmental Health at MoPH, Wassan Abdulla Al Baker, said the ministry is applying the highest standards to make sure that the food safety throughout the year is prioritised, and is working to intensify its procedures, in particular with the special occasions such as the blessed month of Ramadan.

She also said that the Ministry was also intensifying awareness of food safety through media. The awareness messages focus on the correct and safe methods for purchasing and handling foodstuffs, transportation, cold and dry storage, preparation and cooking, display, and sale, cleaning and disinfection, personal hygiene and healthy behaviour, in order to progress the awareness of the risks related to food and reduce the risk of food poisoning.

She also called on importers, as partners in the process of making sure the safety of the food, to quickly register their products in the online foodstuff registration system, with the aim of using the registration data later in the modern electronic system for food control.

According to the statistics given by the Ministry, during the first quarter of 2021, about 508,482,000 kg of foodstuff was imported through the various state outlets. Of it, 506,122,000 kg of imported food was accepted after ensuring that it went in line with the technical essentialities contained in the technical regulations and the relevant standard specifications. 2,370,000 kg of food was rejected for not going in line with the required health standards.

Along with this, 1,692,000 kg of rejected food was re-exported, while 677,000 kg foodstuff was destroyed. As many as 927 different samples of imported food were collected and sent to the Ministry’s central food laboratories to demonstrate their compliance with the technical, microbial, chemical, physical, and radiological essentialities and other necessities including halal requirements.

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