More than nine tonnes of food found unfit for human consumption was destroyed in the United Arab Emirates in the first six months of this year, the Gulf News reports.
A source from the Public Health and Environment Department said that the spoiled food was confiscated from over 2,963 shops, cafeterias, restaurants, groceries and other retail outlets during some 626 visits by public health and environment inspectors.
"Fujairah Municipality is very keen to ensure the hygienic safety of all edible items on display. We have imposed tough penalties on shops and establishments which violate the health code in displaying food products," the source said.
The confiscated food items included 1,125 cans of food, 794 kilos of vegetables, 856 kilos of meat, 376 kilos of grain, 68 litres of cooking oil, 404 kilos of dairy products and around 5,499 kilos of other food items.
The source noted that so far this year, Fujairah Municipality has issued 504 warnings and imposed penalties on 284 shops and issued 1,035 health certificates to food shops. "The confiscated food was a result of the tests applied on more than 120 food samples at our Food and Environment Control Laboratory," he added.
During the first half of this year, Fujairah Municipality supervised more than 752.5 tonnes of imported food from different countries in around 114 containers through the Port of Fujairah, in addition to more than 90,982 sheep, cows and goats which were also admitted into the emirate through the port.