By Sidi Mohamed
DOHA: The Health Control Section at Al Rayyan Municipality has introduced a new system to monitor global warnings issued against food items and inform local outlets simultaneously.
A team at the health control section is assigned to monitor all international and local websites to find if any warning has been issued against food items. If warnings are issued the team will inform health control section to take the necessary procedures.
Subsequently, another team called Zaheeb (ready) services will contact supermarkets through WhatsApp or email and send messages in English advising to remove the food product temporarily from shelves. Afterwards food samples will be sent to the central laboratory for tests. An official at the Al Rayyan Municipality said: “The new service makes work easier, as through one message we control the market, instead of informing every supermarket individually.”
“We have the contact numbers of all supermarkets in Al Rayyan area. We communicate with them and they too coordinate with us. The messages are sent only in English because most of them speak the language. We introduced this service to ensure the safety of people,” the official said.
He also disclosed that the Health Control Section has set up a plan to hold some free workshops and lectures to people working at supermarkets about how to store food stuff, check validity period for meat and milk, how to display food in a safer way and food packaging.
“In addition to supermarkets, we are going to hold lectures at selected schools to teach students about how soft drinks and some other food items can harm health. This will increase their awareness and help to be healthy,” official said.
“We also conduct such workshops and lectures for workers to increase awareness about health related issues and how to handle food in a safe way,” he added.
Health Control Section at Al Rayyan Municipality has also conducted many complementary courses for supermarkets with a high number of staff and who can speak English. The courses aimed to educate them on how to handle food items.
The Peninsula
