إغلاق محلات لبيع اللحوم

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA) has shut down the meat sections of two major retail chains for selling expired meat products, a statement said on Monday.
Authorities also temporarily closed three food outlets for unhygienic practices. The establishments were identified as: Golden Sun on Mina Street, the Healthy Food restaurant in industrial city in Musaffah and Al Yazia Refreshments on Mina Street. Inspectors found flies and insects in the outlets’ kitchens.

The meat stalls at Lulu Hypermarket in Al Wahda Mall and Carrefour in Marina Mall were also closed down for three days during the past two months for allegedly selling expired meat and other violations, according to the statement.

The cases were referred to court where the penalties for the outlets will be decided, this may include fines, a senior official told Gulf News on Monday.
“The inspectors found these two meat stalls have been cheating customers by tampering with the expiry dates of the meat products,” Mohammad Jalal Al Reyaysa, Manager of Information and Communication Department at ADFCA said.
ADFCA will take strict action against violators whether they are small or big players in the market, Al Reyaysa said.
“Food outlets do not have any other option but to be professional and law abiding,” the official said.
The statement disclosed that of the 35 inspections carried out at the meat stall of Lulu Hypermarket in Al Wahda Mall since January 2009, inspectors found several violations on five visits. On the most recent visit on July 3, four violations were found, including the mixing of leftovers with fresh meat.
The inspectors confiscated and destroyed 20 kilogrammes of mixed meat and 40 kilogrammes of ground meat without production and expiry dates. The stall also violated the permitted allowance of one day on the expiry date for ground meat packets by selling them even two or three days after the expiry date, the statement added. They were also found keeping spiced chicken in large containers which was not permitted. Some of the violations were repetitive which were already found on March 1, the statement said. On February 26, the expiry dates of meat products were found tampered with, which is commercial fraud, according to the statement. On January 5 and 16 two violations each including unhygienic practices was discovered.
The Emke Group which runs Lulu Hypermarkets said in a statement issued to Gulf News that there had been a total of 43 visits to its store by ADFCA officials to date this year and only on three occasions had they found a violation on its part. “We have taken serious note of these issues and have done a thorough investigation of the whole procedure to rectify any hitches.”
At Carrefour in Marina Mall, inspectors found several varieties of expired meat were mixed with fresh meat and expiry dates were tampered with, the ADFCA statement said. Gulf News contacted Carrefour, but a spokesman said it would not make any comment.
Do you trust the quality of the meat you buy in supermarkets? Do you know of any ways to make sure the food you eat is not expired?

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