Mahmoud Ahmad

SOMETIMES I ask myself this question: How safe is it to eat or buy food from outside? What rankles me is that invariably we just see the end product without getting to know the chain that ended up with us taking home the finished product or just parking ourselves in the available seat in restaurants to dig in without a care in the world.



We buy food or eat at certain restaurants and we don’t see how the food was cooked or even consider taking the effort to know the hows and whys of the process? We do not consider it a moot point to find out the state of the kitchen and how well it is kept? We do not want to know whether the kitchen environment is clean or dirty? We just buy the food without even discerning if the chefs and the kitchen help were hygienic or experienced?



Last week I read an article in a local paper about a restaurant being shut down in Al-Ahsa region, in the eastern part of Saudi Arabia, after health inspectors discovered bottles of urine inside the kitchen. Just reading the news itself was disgusting and I do not want my imagination to run wild as the prospects of many shoddy scenarios jumped instantly to my mind. The immediate reaction was, how many people this unkempt restaurant has affected and whether urine was used in the cooking process or whether the person who filled the bottles at least had the decency to clean himself. But the fact that bottles of urine were discovered in the kitchen reflected on the hygiene and the mindset of the restaurant staff and the expectations of cleanliness from these people was like expecting the moon. Didn’t the staff know passing urine in a bottle and keeping it in a place where edible stuff are kept is a crime itself?



According to the news, the restaurant workers said they used the bottles to urinate because there was no bathroom at the restaurant. Is that an acceptable reason? Why was there no restroom at the restaurant? Why was the place licensed to operate in the first place if there was no bathroom for workers to use?



The recent campaign by the Jeddah municipality was an eye-opener. The campaign showed how bad the food industry was and the bottom line they operated on was "making profit at any cost". If it wasn’t for this very late wake up call by the Jeddah municipality then only God knows how long we would have carried on in this fashion — suffering these poor food conditions.



Like I said in one of my previous article, late is better than never. And this campaign, albeit late, should awaken the public to the fact that the industry’s actions need to be questioned and monitored.



We have been reading repeatedly in various local newspapers about groups of people suffering from food poisoning after eating in one restaurant or finds of use of stale meats and products that have well passed the expiry dates. Officials immediately move and act and in most cases shutting down that offending restaurant for a while before it is reopened again after fines are paid. But no serious action is taken against the erring parties and the outlets.



Even five star restaurants were targeted and found lacking in hygiene in preparation and preserving food. A famous five star hotel was fined and shut down for keeping rotten food, allowing insects in the kitchen, not getting health licenses for their workers, and hiring illegal workers. Such problems could be expected in small and low-budget restaurant but that it was found also in a luxury place shows the problem is bigger and deep-rooted. It just indicates that no place is safe.



I remember covering a story of a restaurant in Madinah practicing nefarious activities years ago. The outlet had goats that died as a result of a disease. They just skinned the dead animal and sold it as fresh meat. This was discovered accidentally and consumers were saved from their action. But no one knows for how long they were operating scams like the one that got them caught and cheating consumers.



We have to admit one thing here, most employees working in the food industry, cafeterias and restaurants, are not trained even if they were issued health certificates. Very few restaurants hire professional cooks, who are aware of the need for a clean kitchen and personal hygiene.



Poor personal hygiene is a serious problem. Workers in cafeterias, for example, sometimes work with their fingers dirty. Yet they stick it in the sandwich they make and serve to you. Flies and cockroaches are crawling on the floor and yet no one seems to care. Some food products are past the expiry date and yet they sell it to unwitting and trusting consumers. It was reported by many that some restaurants pick up half rotten fruits from the garbage at the fruit market and use it in their kitchen. In an industry that is badly managed, I believe such thing might happen.



Not long ago, I went to buy a shawerma sandwich from an outlet near my house. The streaming sweat of the man making the sandwich was dropping in the food. He did not care that the salty sweat was an unwelcome addition to the sandwich. When I notified him of it, he said that he couldn’t do anything because of the heat. When I refused to take the sandwich, he simply gave it to the guy behind me, who accepted it gratefully.



In another place, another worker was cleaning the internal chimney while others were cooking eggs on the stove below. Whatever soot and dirt that was coming down from the chimney was getting mixed with the food. Though I tried to bring it to the staff’s notice, they just looked at me as if I was a pest that had to be shooed away, and they carried on as if nothing was happening.



I am sure many readers have their own stories about the unhygienic state of food and poor conditions of restaurants. Yes lack of hygiene is a widespread problem even in the developed West despite the strict laws there. It is not enough to recruit any worker to work in a restaurant and issue a health certificate if the person does not know the basic principles of personal hygiene. If they are not trained then they should undergo training before they are hired to work in a restaurant.



With so many uncertainties in the safety of food, I recall with satisfaction what my parents always tell me “there is no better food than the one made at home.” How true!

 

— The writer can be reached at mahmad@saudigazette.com.sa. Twitter: @anajeddawi_eng