To ensure food safety for residents in Qatar, the inspectors of various municipalities are strictly implementing laws regulating the food industry.
“Throughout the year we conduct routine and surprise inspection drives on food outlets, especially on restaurants and supermarkets”, said a source at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment.
The aim of conducting such inspection raids is to check whether these food outlets are working in line with the health specifications stipulated by the municipality.
“Actions like closure of the outlets and imposing of heavy fines are taken if the food outlets are found to have cooked food in unhygienic conditions or are selling food which is unfit for human consumption or selling expired products, and these types of violations face closures because they are related to people's life and health," he said.
Inspectors have to send a report to the health monitoring section of the relevant municipality which is then forwarded to the director, supported with pictures of the violations and he (director) decides the period of the closure and the amount of fine based on the severity of the violation, he added.
"In case the violations are not affecting people’s health, we just give warning and take commitments from violators not to repeat them. The punishment of the closure usually does not exceed 60 days," he adds.
“Inspectors are very strict during inspection visits. They visit our eatery at different times. Our restaurant was closed for one week in addition to a fine because they were saying the chicken didn’t cook very well," said a restaurant owner at Al Wakra.
“During their inspection visits, they focus more on food products and sometimes just issue notices without imposing fines. I remember one time they fined us QR1,500 for an expired product," he added.
Another restaurant owner commented: “We were fined QR7,000 and was asked to close for one week because the place was not clean, exhaust fans were not working and chicken had been kept outside the refrigerator for a longer time."
"One day they came to our restaurant and fined us as our refrigerator was not working well. They are very strict with the rules. They never forgive us for violations, " a grocery operator said.