Food safety during summertime tops concerns of IAM committee members

Food safety during summertime was the most discussed topic during yesterday’s meeting of the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) Consultative Committee.

In the period before the agenda of the meeting, which was held yesterday afternoon at the IAM building, two committee members raised the matter and called for more attention around it.

Lo Kam Kuan and Wong Sok Kuan, in two separate speeches, highlighted the need to pay special attention to the matter, particularly during summertime, when high temperatures and humidity can pose additional risks to food safety.

Member Lo noted the need to keep the catering industry aware of the requirements to “separate raw and cooked food” and “top cooked and bottom raw”, as well as to ensure that temperatures of refrigerated and freezing compartments accord to predefined standards.

The same member noted that, in the first half of this year, about 5,000 health inspections had been conducted, including of restaurants, takeaway outlets, retail fresh food, supermarkets, and other places, and that the results overall were very positive, showing improvements.

Still, he noted, “There are sporadic cases of suspected collective gastroenteritis in Macau every year. The reasons behind these are related to staff members’ weak awareness of food safety and hygiene, as well as insufficient maintenance and cleaning of food facilities.”

“A few days ago, a restaurant was found to have pickled raw shrimps that contained Vibrio parahaemolyticus [a bacteria that can cause gastrointestinal illness]. IAM has immediately intervened to prevent the spread of risk to food safety,” he remarked, noting that, particularly concerning raw ingredients like sashimi, there is need for extra care in handling, transporting, and caring for foods. He called on authorities to increase training for staff, as well as to implement education programs.

The same case was later mentioned by Wong, who suggested IAM strengthen inspections of food types that have recently been involved in cases of food safety problems, in addition to the already-existent routine food sampling inspections.

Another of the suggestions aired was to use different platforms to reinforce information and knowledge disclosure, as well as to strengthen cooperation with food safety departments in neighboring regions, so as to afford for immediate action when suspected cases occur across the border.

Continued worries: mosquitoes in vacant land

During a different discussion at the same meeting, member Lam Ka Chun called on authorities to continue to pay close attention to the conditions of vacant land plots, particularly those that have ponds, or those which form temporary bodies of water after heavy rainfall.

Lam noted that these land plots have the potential to breed hordes of mosquitoes, threatening the propagation of dengue fever.

The member identified in particular the large piece of land recovered by the government located adjacent to the taxi stand at Taipa Old Village, saying, “According to reports from nearby residents, this land has a lot of overgrown grass and weeds, affecting environmental conditions in the area. It remains frequently visited every day by a large number of tourists.

He called on the government, while waiting for the development of this plot to proceed with regular maintenance works, to keep the plot clean and avoid, among other things, the breeding of mosquito hordes.

Food safety during summertime tops concerns of IAM committee members

Food safety during summertime tops concerns of IAM committee members

Food safety during summertime tops concerns of IAM committee members

Food safety during summertime tops concerns of IAM committee members

Food safety during summertime tops concerns of IAM committee members