FOOD FOR THOUGHT

By V L Srinivasan
VL.Srinivasan@apexstuff.com

Muscat, July 28:
Much of the salad served in restaurants and hotels that you find too tempting is best resisted. Its presentation may be appealing and its taste may tickle your taste buds too, but it
may be simply unfit for human consumption due to the presence of harmful bacteria and other residues.
Analysis of samples of various food items, including fruits, vegetables, beverages, cereals, flours, dairy products, meats, herbs, spices, salts, oils, prepared foods and even chocolates, between January and May found at least 20 per cent of these were contaminated.
The microbiological analysis of 23 samples of water this March found that ten of them contained bacteria.
Among the food items sampled, several of the herbs, spices and salts failed to meet the prescribed standards in all five months. During the analysis, officials from Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources found pathogenic bacteria (Salmonella spp, Staph aureus, Bacillus cereue, Vibrio cholera and E coli 0157), faecal indicators (E coli, faecal streptoccus) and
water contaminants (E coli and Pseudomonas), all of which can prove fatal if ingested.
Knives used to chop flesh foods including raw meat, seafood and poultry products are often used to cut salads in hotels. This leads to pathogenic bacteria being transferred from the flesh foods to the salads.
While meat is boiled and cooked and in the process the bacteria killed, it is the salads that remain
contaminated. Residues of pathogenic bacteria carried by cloths, cutting boards and human nails can also cause food contamination.
“The chance of cross-contamination is high when cooks use the same knives for cutting meat and preparing salads without sterilising them,” said Eng Khalil Hassan Ali al Balushi, General Supervisor of the Food & Water Laboratories Centre (FWLC) in the Ministry of Regional
Municipalities and Water Resources.
The FWLC collects samples of food and water from across Oman and tests these for the presence of bacteria and other toxic substances to ensure that the water and food products meet the standards prescribed by the government and the Gulf Cooperative Council.
According to Balushi, nearly 80 per cent of the water and about 70 per cent of the food products being supplied in the interior of the country meet the set standards, but the remaining has to be thrown away.
Though all wilayats are covered by water treatment plants, food poisoning is reported in some places where the residents consume polluted groundwater. “We want to maintain 100 per cent quality in all water and food items in the country,” Balushi said.
According to Muscat Municipality figures, there are about 6,750 establishments – including food businesses, barbershops and laundries – involved in public health activities that are spread over five directorates (Seeb, Bausher, Muttrah, Amerat and Quriyat).
Each directorate has a food inspection department run by about 60 food officials who form into 17 inspection groups. Each section is headed by a deputy director.
Daily inspections are carried out by the food inspectors who cover all establishments in periodic cycles of three to three-and-a-half months.
They also carry out other inspections like visiting new establishments, collecting samples for
laboratory testing, attending complaints and looking out for banned items in the market.
The sultanate, which imports 70 per cent of its food items, enacted the Oman Food Law this January. It has also set up a National Food Safety Committee headed by an undersecretary in the Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources to frame guidelines.
But the health and hygiene level of restaurants vary due to the degree of awareness and education of the food handlers. “Not all food establishments follow the rules and standards,
as some are more commercial. We request customers to check the facilities themselves like
food inspectors would whenever they deal with such eateries. They should lodge complaints with
municipal authorities or by calling our toll-free hot line (800-77-222),” a senior official of the Directorate of Health Affairs in Muscat Municipality told TheWeek.
People should report cases of food poising to the authorities without delay. “Otherwise nothing can be done later as the stale food will have been thrown away or served to gullible customers,” the official said.
But the government’s decision on decreeing the Oman Food Law has been well received by the hospitality industry.
Richard Wilson, executive chef of The Chedi Muscat, said that the law would strengthen the standards of food safety throughout the country. “The guidelines being issued by the government will no doubt provide consumers now and in the future with a high level of confidence in the standard of food safety throughout Oman.”
The Chedi Muscat follows practices of kitchen management, which are largely based on HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) standards that are commonly accepted worldwide as being the most effective way of maintaining standards of food hygiene, he said.
Shailendra Pandey, assistant outlet manager, Left Bank Restaurant, of the Dubai-based Emirates Leisure Retail group that also runs The Noodle House – winner of the 2008
Oman Today Food Hygiene Award – said that many hotels were unaware of the Oman Food Law but the legislation will place Oman on a new high as far as standard of food quality is
concerned. “If all restaurants, whether five-star or ordinary food joint, are brought under the same guidelines, it will give people confidence that the food they are being supplied
has been strictly scrutinised.”
The government’s guidelines should ensure that all staff – chefs, waiters, restaurant managers and delivery boys – handling food undergo medical check-ups at least once every three months. “Only those trained by reputed hospitality institutes, who have knowledge of food handling, should be allowed to work,” Shailendra said.

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