A campaign to educate sellers and consumers of shawarma and other grilled foods has been launched to prevent cases of food poisoning.

The Health Ministry's assistant under-secretary for public health and primary care, Dr Mariam Al Jalahama, said the campaign would target every shop selling these types of food and a list of 'dos and don'ts' will be given to them.

'We earlier targeted most of the outlets and spread 'word-of-mouth' awareness,' she said.

'We realised that was not having the desired effect, so a virtual 'door-to-door' campaign has now been undertaken.'

She said leaflets, which are being distributed at the joints, are now only in Arabic.

'We are taking steps to have these leaflets out in other languages as well, primarily Urdu, English and Malayalam, so that people from all walks of life can read and understand them,' said Dr Al Jalahama.

She said the leaflets not only instruct sellers on how to prepare a healthy food item but also make consumers aware of what they should look out for in a perfect shawarma.

'At the same time, it also urges consumers to report anything untoward to the Health Ministry's 24-hour hotline (17288888) where food inspectors will be available all times,' said Dr Al Jalahama said

The leaflets contain basic information on how to cook the meat inside the shawarama, the bread that contains the meat, the ingredients and the packaging.

'All this contributes to a healthy meal,' she said.

Dr Al Jalahama said the steps were necessary in keeping with some cases of food poisoning, which continue to be reported.

'There have been some cases of salmonella poisoning and salmonella infection as well, which are caused as a result of improperly-cooked meat,' she said.

'The idea is to prevent any disease outbreak,' said Dr Al Jalahama.

'Shawarma and other grilled products are the most popular 'eating-out' food items but these can cause problems in case proper precautions are not taken, especially in the hot and humid summer months,' she said.

Dr Al Jalahama said that people should not depend on the officials alone.

'We have to have an aware public who could alert us about anything wrong,' she said. 'That is the only way we can check on any unscrupulous or unhealthy activities.'

Dr Al Jalahama said that food inspectors cannot be at all places at all times.

'Even if we have hundreds of inspectors, it is not possible to police every joint,' she said.

'Steps are already underway to increase the number of inspectors to 50 in the near future, from the present 36,' she added. TradeArabia News Service