Public Authority for Food and Nutrition accused of being lenient with violators of laws, ‘cheats’

This news has been read 22732 times!

PAAAFR denies rumours

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 20: Food is and has always been vital for the health and safety of individuals. However, after the mantle fell on the Public Authority for Food and Nutrition which is responsible for food safety and control of the outlets dealing with foodstuffs including restaurants, grocery shops and markets things look different, reports Al-Anba daily.

The daily added, when this task was the responsibility of the Kuwait Municipality, strict action was taken against the violators of the laws and cheats in the form of fines and closure of establishments. The daily added, it is crystal clear the Public Authority for Food and Nutrition is lenient in this matter although the issue is pertaining to health and safety of citizens and residents.

The daily added, all that is being done now is that the violator is warned and made to a sign an undertaking that the violation will not be repeated and that the owner will comply with the regulations of the authority within one week from the date of the undertaking.

The question here is: why the authority has not given power to its inspectors to close the establishment in case of violation since it is related to foodstuff that is consumed by the people and the consequences can be serious if food not good for human consumption is sold.

Returning to the list of foodstuffs, Article 33 stipulates that a fine of not less than 500 dinars and not more than 1,000 dinars shall be handed down for the following offences.

■ Transportation of foodstuffs without licensed means of transportation from the concerned authority, transporting with an expired license or not in accordance with the health requirement.

■ Failure of the seller to give the buyer a written pledge in accordance with the provisions of these regulations.

■ Trading in foodstuff unfit for human consumption, repacking the food, repacking foodstuffs without obtaining permission, or repacking the foodstuff in an unhealthy environment

■ Not conforming to the specifications, workers handling food without a medical certificate

■ Non-compliance with the rules and conditions of hygiene at work

■ Changing the food product in a manner that it does not adhere to the original text

■ Lack of availability of specifications and technical and health requirements during transportation of foodstuffs

■ Trading in food without acquiring the necessary documents

■ Selling frozen meat, poultry, fish or any kind of meat and selling it as fresh

■ Prevention of a worker with blisters, wounds or ulcers from handling food until clearance is given by the health authorities

■ The transfer of the ‘confiscated’ goods from the storage place without the consent of the authority

■ The distribution of foodstuff containing prohibited substances or the use of forbidden preservatives

■ If the containers carry pictures, phrases, drawings or the like, that violate the Islamic law, cause harm to national values, violate public morals, or undermine public modesty in society or violate public order

■ Re-opening a food facility without permission from the concerned authority after it was officially shut down

■ Trading in foodstuffs that do not have the approval of the Authority.

The doors to the Kuwait Zoo will open at 4:00 pm until 8:00 pm on the first day of Eid Al-Adha and the following days from 8:00 am to 12:00 noon and from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm, reports Al-Anba daily quoting an unidentified official of the zoo.

Meanwhile, in response to rumors the official has denied the Kuwait Zoo has increased the visit fee from 500 fils to three dinars. He said the fee remains unchanged.

In the meantime, The Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) has denied rumors about the fictional expenses, expansion of the area housing the elephants and buying cages for monkeys in the zoo, reports Al-Anba daily quoting an official source.

The source said the rumors had surfaced five years ago, however, nothing of that sort happened, but in 2013 an estimated budget was drawn up and approval has been awaited till date.

Two days ago, one of the social networking websites posted an article saying 500,000 dinars had been unreasonably spent on expansion of the house for the elephants and that 250,000 dinars were spent on a case for monkeys. This is what was rumored about five years ago according to an official source at the PAAAFR but the news reports keep popping up at regular intervals on a number of Twitter accounts.

This news has been read 22732 times!

Related Articles

Back to top button

Advt Blocker Detected

Kindly disable the Ad blocker

Verified by MonsterInsights