Shawarma drama: Almost half of all Dubai eateries to stop selling sandwiches due to hygiene laws

Inspectors visited 572 small and medium food outlets in May giving them six months to make changes and improvements to where and how food is prepared.

Fans of shawarma in Dubai wll have their work cut out to find the food once the municipality enforces new rules. Getty Images
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DUBAI // Almost half of all shawarma outlets in the emirate will no longer sell the popular Arabic street food after the municipality enforced new ­hygiene rules.

Inspectors visited 572 small and medium-sized food outlets in May, giving them six months to make changes and improvements to where and how food is prepared.

“We had sent out letters since the beginning of May explaining the food and health rules and regulations to be met by the shawarma-making establishments,” said Sultan Al Tahir, head of food inspection at Dubai Municipality.

“During inspections, we found that they do not have enough space to prepare food and bring the meat or chicken from other establishments. They also did not have a space to put other ingredients such as mayonnaise, garlic sauce, tahina and other things.

“They kept these outside the refrigerators, near to the hot place meant for cooking and preparing sandwiches, which expose them to damage due to the proliferation of bacteria caused by high heat. This is a problem in our country, which has a hot climate for much of the year, which threatens the possibility of poisoning,” Mr Al Tahir said.

A total of 146 food outlets (25.5 per cent) implemented the municipality’s rules before the deadline, 172 (30.07 per cent) have or are still in the process of completing the work, while 141 of them (24.65 per cent) did not take any action and 113 (19.75 per cent) have stopped making shawarma.

“The main aim of issuing the new guidelines is to make clear the health requirements related to distribution of equipment for food establishments that prepare and sell shawarma,” said Mr Al Tahir, adding that location is critical.

“The guidelines also clarify the procedures to deal with this type of food, which include the appropriate location, equipment, preparation, storage, preparation and cooking.

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