BEIRUT: Health Minister Wael Abu Faour denounced Lebanon’s slaughterhouses Wednesday for violating health and hygiene requirements, and revealed more supermarkets and restaurant chains that failed to meet food safety standards. “Today, the health of the Lebanese is at stake. The least we can say is that the situation is catastrophic,” Abu Faour said, referring to Beirut’s only slaughterhouse.
The slaughterhouse was ordered to be shut down Tuesday for failing to meet minimum health and hygiene requirements, Abu Faour said. Other abattoirs across the country will also be inspected as part of a sweeping campaign.
“Partial solutions will not be tolerated, especially in [Beirut’s] slaughterhouse, which is the main source of meat for the majority of Lebanese,” he said.
According to the health minister, superficial changes such as repainting or cleaning would not suffice. The abysmal conditions required the construction of a new facility, he said.
The Health and Agriculture ministries will issue a request to the Cabinet Thursday, urging the Council of Development and Reconstruction to build a new slaughterhouse in the same location.
Following the example of Beirut’s governor, who approved the decision to close down the slaughterhouse, Governor for north Lebanon Ramzi Nahra will shut Tripoli’s slaughterhouse, also for violating standards, he said Wednesday.
The governor said the slaughterhouse, which he had visited, was “in miserable condition” and “in dire need of reforms in order to preserve the public health.”
He said metal rails that carried animal carcasses were rusted and the water used to clean livestock was contaminated. Moreover, slaughtering and packaging methods did not meet standards.
In an effort to come to a permanent solution, Abu Faour noted that a meeting between Prime Minister Tammam Salam and other relevant ministers Thursday would tackle proposals for reform.
The proposals will include a joint request issued by the health and agriculture ministers calling for the formation of a Foundation for Food Safety in Lebanon, he added.
Also during the news conference, Abu Faour revealed more supermarkets, butcher’s and restaurants that he said failed to meet the ministry’s food safety criteria. Wednesday’s was the third such announcement since the health minister launched the campaign last week.
The list included fast food chains Pizza Hut and KFC, and Bsat supermarket in Sidon, in addition to Bou Khalil Supermarket in Koura and Hadath, and Al-Salam butcher’s in Zghorta, Al-Natour butcher’s in Beirut and Al-Shabab butcher’s in Burj Hammoud, as well as the Al-Mahata shawarma sandwich chain.
Abu Faour also said at least three slaughterhouses in south Lebanon would be shut down until they could prove they met safety standards.
The health minister issued a request to Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk, calling for the closure of the Aqabiyeh, Bisserieh and the Al-Aziyeh slaughterhouses due to insect infestation, lack of large refrigerators for storage and bad sewage, he said.
Abu Faour is also set to issue another request to the interior minister to close down the Aitoul Center, which specializes in the sale of chicken in Sidon.
The decision was made after inspections revealed contaminated frozen chicken imported from Ukraine, he said. The store may be reopened at some point in the future.
Abu Faour gave blacklisted establishments two weeks to get their act together, and said the ministry would assist in this endeavor. Offering an example, he said Halabi restaurant and Bou Khalil, a supermarket chain, which had been found to be in violation of standards, had requested that the ministry examine meat products purchased from a new supplier. Abu Faour expressed hope that other establishments would follow their example.
After his meeting with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, the health minister said Parliament’s joint committees would convene Thursday in order to discuss the drafting of a food safety law.
Abu Faour also announced that his ministry has closed down unlicensed beauty parlors and aesthetic centers that did not employ specialized technicians and dermatologists to conduct beautification procedures.
Meanwhile Wednesday the Al-Youssef Hospital in the northern Akkar town of Halba admitted 11 patients who had suffered food poisoning after eating fajitas and chicken taouk from a local sandwich shop, said Dr. Khalil Hanna.
Upon hearing of the 10 cases, doctors from Akkar transferred samples they had collected from the shop to a lab for tests, which revealed the mayonnaise in the sandwiches had been the cause of the poisoning.
No comments:
Post a Comment