Mandatory hygiene ratings of restaurants urged

JEDDAH: After the recent incident of a rat eating from a bowl at a well-known food outlet in a Jeddah mall came to light, residents have called for food hygiene ratings of restaurants and roadside eateries across the city.
Although the municipality works hard to maintain hygiene at different food outlets and is committed to protecting the health of the people, such incidents haven’t declined.
A resident claimed that she found a bandage with a blood spot inside a sandwich she bought from a restaurant near her home. “Immediately after finding it, I went to the restaurant to complain to the manager, but he refused to listen to me. However, I informed officials from the municipality about the unsanitary conditions in their kitchen and they closed the restaurant. After a few days we heard of a similar incident occurring at the same restaurant, where a customer complained about finding a cockroach in his bread,” said Fatima R.
She added that this incident could have negatively affected her health if the blood on the bandage had been infected. “Restaurants are not taking hygiene issues seriously, even after being fined for health violations. It should be mandatory to have food hygiene ratings to inform customers about its cleanliness so we can judge whether the place is fit to eat at or not. Restaurants will keep up on their hygiene to retain customers,” she said.
Another resident, Asif Mohammed, said that his son found an insect in his food at a famous Pakistani restaurant. “It is surprising to see how a famous restaurant packed with customers every day can make such a big mistake. After a long discussion with the manager and an investigation, we found that the meat was rotten,” he said, adding, “It is important that food hygiene ratings are brought in by the city for restaurants or firms to display their ratings. This will allow us to know if they are following hygiene practices.”
This year around 16,000 eateries have been closed down by the Jeddah municipality for various health violations, including poor storage of food, unhygienic conditions, the use of expired items, and operating without licenses. Thus, the food hygiene ratings, if implemented, can help maintain cleanliness at the place of cooking and reduce the risk of any kind of health violation. It will also lay down strict guidelines for clean storage and transport facilities.
Abdullah J, a food critic said: “It is not easy to judge hygiene standards on appearances alone. These ratings can help people get more information on the hygiene practices in the restaurant’s kitchen. Famous food outlets at public places like malls or shopping centers should especially be targeted for this rating system as a lot of people eat at these places and are at risk of exposure to contracting infections.”
Such a scheme would also be good for the restaurant business as higher ratings could see an increase in their trade, he added.