FUJAIRAH // About 345 kilograms of food has been confiscated from shops and destroyed after being deemed unfit for human consumption.
The Dibba Al Fujairah Municipality carried out inspections on 664 restaurants, supermarkets, butchers and fish shops in the emirate.
Hasan Al Yamahi, director general of the municipality, said 54 outlets had been issued warnings for selling expired goods. He said some of the food was “poorly stored and exposed to heat and sun”.
The inspectors also found some employees had out of date health cards. They were sent for tests to ensure they had no contagious diseases.
He said inspectors were keeping a close eye on markets in the coming months, as the hot summer weather can easily spoil food not properly stored.
The municipality had a continuous food safety awareness campaigns throughout the year that targets all the food establishments in the area, said Mr Al Yamahi.
Residents of the area said that outlets selling out-of-date food was a relatively common problem.
Salem Al Bloushi, 43, an Emirati, from Dibba said: “About two years ago I bought three cans of beans that were on promotion and when I arrived home my wife noticed they were expired. I reported it to the municipality and they took action against the supermarket.”
rhaza@thenational.ae
