Riyadh Municipality on Tuesday announced the launch of food safety campaign as part of Ramadan preparation. Eng. Solaiman Al-Buthe, Director of Environmental Health Department, Riyadh Municipality, urged people to take extra food safety precautions during Ramadan since the fasting month this year coincides with the summer season. Al-Buthe said Environmental Health Department will operate in day and night shifts to safeguard the people's health against any food poisoning. The Riyadh Municipality has so far distributed 150,000 pamphlets in Arabic and English containing information about dos and don'ts for various food outlets. The pamphlets are aimed at educating the food handlers working in different food outlets, the official said. Brightly illustrated pamphlets would educate the workers on five important things – proper food handling, storage of food at right temperatures, use of raw material to avoid contamination and cook thoroughly, especially products with a short-shelf life such as fish, chicken, meat and eggs. Al-Buthe said around 250 food inspectors are being assigned for inspection tours during Ramadan. “Each inspector is assigned to visit at least 10 food outlets on a daily basis before Iftar (breakfast) and Suhoor (pre-dawn meal) time,” he said. He said Riyadh Municipality has introduced portable laboratory for rapid testing of food samples taken from food outlets in the city. __
