Mustafa Khalifa
Ghat, 7 March 2015:
Concerns about the quality and safety of food in shops, restaurants and roadside stands in the far . . .[restrict]south-west town of Ghat have resulted in a local committee being set up to promote the establishment of laboratories to test the products and fare.
Approval for the committee was made earlier this week at the headquarters of Ghat Municipal Council which included the mayor of Ghat, the head of the local municipal police, the local hospital manager and the head of the hospital’s laboratory, as well representatives of the local food and drugs authority, the healthcare office and of other health centres in the area.
One of the roles of the municipal police is to inspect the safety of products sold in the area. Roadside barbecue stands are common in Ghat.
As well as approving the formation of the committee to set up testing laboratories in the area, both private and public, the meeting also said that inspections by the municipal police on shops and other outlets selling food, especially meat and frozen goods, should be intensified, particularly in relation to sell-by dates. It further called for increased surveillance of refrigerated transport vehicles.
According to officials, there have been a number of incidents recently in Ghat in which out-of date and rotten food was sold in restaurants and at food stands.
According to Mohammed Anfinu, an local insepection official, some food outlets are “unhygienic” and there have been instances of non-Libyans working in such places. One restaurant, he claimed was in breach of the most basic food safety and cleanliness rules. Other outlets had way out-of date meat and illegally imported offal in their refrigerators. [/restrict]
