People are being warned against buying food advertised on social media or sold on the street by unlicensed retailers in Bahrain.

The alert was issued by Health Ministry public health and primary healthcare assistant under-secretary Dr Maryam Al Jalahma yesterday (April 6), said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

She said members of the public were risking their health by purchasing edible items made in people's homes or by street hawkers.

"Responsibility falls on people who buy food from unlicensed businesses which operate using social media or even street vendors, as they are not registered with the ministry and we cannot do anything to stop them," said Dr Al Jalahma.

"Food safety is everyone's responsibility, starting from the consumer to outlets and the ministry.

"It is hard to do anything about these businesses if someone gets food poisoning because of them.

"The only thing we can do is inform the Interior Ministry if a serious or a repeated medical problem is caused because of a business - and they can go to their homes and inspect the food themselves because our inspectors are not allowed to enter homes.

"Many homes now sell food without a licence and some people even have barns where they slaughter livestock and sell them illegally.

"We have also found stores that have tobacco."

She was speaking during a Press conference at the ministry's offices in Juffair to mark World Health Day, which is being celebrated worldwide today under the slogan "From farm to plate, make food safe".

Dr Al Jalahma revealed a total of 54,968 inspection visits were conducted in 2014 by 25 inspectors from the food safety and licenses group, which closed 41 of around 7,000 registered outlets.

A total of 71,886 visits revealed around 883,584 tonnes of imported food was consumable, while almost 1,873 tonnes was non-consumable, during the same period.

"The figures are a clear indication of the ministry's efforts, beginning from inspecting imported food from ports until it reaches restaurants and food outlets," Dr Al Jalahma added.

"We work in line with the World Health Organisation's International Health Regulations (IHR) and on a regional level by joining our neighbouring countries in annual meetings."

Efforts to monitor food safety include the Smart Inspection Project, which was launched in Bahrain in April 2012.

The project includes awarding food outlets that achieve a 100 per cent food safety standard a blue sticker, while those meeting 80 per cent of standards get a green sticker.

Outlets that fail to achieve basic standards are warned with a red sticker.

The total number of outlets assessed between August 2013 and February 2015 was 241, 17 of which were presented with blue stickers, 174 got green stickers and 50 got red stickers.

"Efforts on food safety did not start today as we have many programmes launched with an ultimate aim of protecting people from food poisoning and diseases caused by unhygienic food," said Dr Al Jalahma.

"One of the most important programmes is the Smart Inspection Project, which has recruited inspectors to visit restaurants and coffee shops to take samples from their food, as well as explain to them how to store food and ensure its safety.

"This project features daily inspections and is focused on small food outlets, some of which cause food poisoning.

"Inspection visits depend on the hygiene of each outlet and the complaints we receive about them, some require two visits annually while some require more than that.

"High-level restaurants already have certified inspectors for evaluation and most of them require only one visit per year.

"Our ultimate goal through this project is to decrease cases of food poisoning, which is very important - especially as Bahrain is a tourism spot and ensuring food safety is essential.

Inspections

"We have inspectors with high educational degrees, as some have completed Master's degrees and a PhD."

However, Dr Al Jalahma urged MPs to approve a new Public Health Law that has harsh punishments for outlets that neglect food safety.

"We are hoping that MPs approve the new law because we are depending on it to punish those neglecting food safety and can also refer them to the Public Prosecution," she said.

The ministry highlighted LuLu Hypermarket as an example of best practice in food safety and hygiene.

"It is our principal responsibility to ensure food safety, which is the message we aim to send across to all our customers," regional director Juzer Rupawala said during the Press conference.

"To support the ministry's initiatives, we are going to open a kitchen for ladies in our hypermarkets and give them a live demo on food safety." - TradeArabia News Service