A POPULAR restaurant on Sheriff Street, whose specialties include roti, was asked to close its doors for a few days after the facility was inspected by officers of the Mayor and City Council’s Public Health Department.

Acting Chief Meat and Food Inspector, Onika Alleyne, told the City Council on Monday that the restaurant was asked to immediately close its doors and do some clean-up works. It was found to be in an unsanitary state, she said.
According to her, the owners of the restaurant complied and hence, permission was granted for it to reopen to the public.

“Food handlers need to… take the time and the care to provide safe food to persons. If caught doing otherwise, they will have to face some kind of consequence,” Alleyne had said previously, even as the M&CC noted that there is an “acute” shortage of public health staff, both at the level of the food hygiene inspectorate and the environmental health officers.
“We have to look at upgrading their remuneration so that we can attract them and keep them,” the M&CC had further observed.

Alleyne, too, agreed that the municipality’s capacity to conduct inspections is not at an excellent level and that more inspectors are needed on the team.

With regards to fruits being sold on the streets, especially those already cut into portions, Alleyne questioned where vendors obtain water to wash their fruits; and noted the contamination that comes from selling in high-traffic areas. “So this is a serious issue. Possibly, persons who are ill and their immune system is compromised would be eating these fruits,” she had explained.

Then there are those coconut water vendors who are using no standard process to sterlise their bottles. “We would like to urge coconut vendors to desist from selling in the bottles and allow persons to come with their own containers,” she said.

Alleyne said school vendors should be properly clothed and items such as egg balls and phoulouri should be stored at the correct temperatures. She noted that children are vulnerable and hence vendors should use best practices when dealing with them. Furthermore, for those who sell fruit juices, these should be properly bottled and labelled to establish traceability.

“Street vendors serve a good purpose, but food vendors need to provide hot and cold holdings in the form of warmers and coolers for their foods. They should also improvise a method to have water available for washing their hands,” Alleyne recommended.

The M&CC had said that some of the troubling concerns of the municipality relate to poor storage of foods and beverages, unlabelled packages and bottles with things for human consumption, insanitary preparation areas, kitchens, close proximity of washrooms to preparation areas, violation of dress code by food handlers and the general physical condition of some eating houses and provision shops.

“You would never believe some of the things our public health inspectors see in the course of their duties,” M&CC said.