CMC to take legal action against city hotels:

Stringent measures on food safety

By Ranil WIJAYAPALA

A tourist or a local who visits Colombo to attend to his or her needs will be confused with the wide range of hotels and eating houses in the city as to which hotel they should go in to have a proper meal.The beautifully decorated city hotels covered with nicely laid out tables and curtains alone won't help them to decide whether the place is safe to have a meal. Not only to have a meal but also to buy some apples or a bunch of grapes they will have to be extra careful as some vendors use chemicals for these fruits.

The recent raids carried out by the Public Health Department of the Colombo Municipal Council along with the Environmental Police, revealed that many hotels in Colombo are selling unhygienic food.Legal action are pending for 282 eateries in the Colombo city of 814 eating houses raided by the CMC Public Health Department and the Environment Police Unit during the past few weeks.

Over 300 Kilo grams of fruits and more than a tonne of food including 400 Kgs of 'godamba rotti' stored in hotel refrigerators to prepare 'Kottu', were destroyed by the food inspectors following these raids which bear testimony that the taste is not the only factor for the hygiene of the meal that they consume from these eateries.Colombo, as a city that is to undergo a vast development drive very soon, have to think of new ways of monitoring the hygienic conditions of these city hotels and eating houses.

Food Act

Under the Food Act of 1980 which was amended in 1991, the Chief Medical Officer of the CMC Public Health Department is the sole authority to handle all food control activities in the city.

Talking about the Food Control Activities in the city Dr. Pradeep Kariyawasam says that food hygiene has become a very complex problem all over the world and it has also become a challenging task to the Colombo Municipal Council.

"It is very difficult for us to act only according to the by-laws of the Municipal Ordinance as the standards given these bylaws are not enough to maintain internationally accepted standards of food hygiene", Dr. Kariyawasam said.

"I remember ten years ago I started food control activities and I realised when we visited five star hotels, their standards were very low. They have given least priority to the kitchens whilst spending huge sums for outward appearance", he says. "True that under the Municipal Council Ordnance and the by-laws with regard to eating houses, there were conditions. But those are outdated now", he said.

Under the Food Act, action can be taken against the preparation of food.

CMC officials inspect hotels in the Colombo city	Taking a closer look...

"But I think to Food Act should gradually undergo amendments. I think they should now include more conditions to regulate hotels and eating houses," he added.

As a part of the program to improve the hygienic level of the city hotels the Colombo Municipal Council launched a program to grade the city hotels and eating houses. But out of over 1,000 hotels and restaurants in the city only 150 got A and B grades.

The CMC Public Health Department commenced even checking the water, from where it is being taken and the food prepared. The Department checked the health conditions of the workers, blood, urine and the stools to ensure that the place is safe.

"This year we have given Grade A and B certificate, for 150 places", he added.

Only 400 city hotels are having basic licence to operate hotels. To obtain a licence they should have the approval from the Urban Development Authority to run a hotel or eating house and fire brigade certificate to conform to their rules and regulations and a certificate from the Public Health Department that the sanitary conditions are good. But beyond that there are no conditions.

"The other eating houses and hotels are operated without the licence", Dr. Kariyawasam added.

"So going I think we should now change this, because the country is under development and one of the cornerstone is the arrival of more tourists. The development is based on that. I think to cater to that we should have very good hotels and eateries", Dr. Kariyawasam added. So the Colombo Municipal Council also has to increase surveillance to check the conditions of hotels and to see that these places are safe not only to tourists but also for to locals. "So we have to see that they have very good hygienic standards. Our effort is that", Dr. Kariyawasam added.

Therefore, the CMC started another program with to United Nations Industrial Development Organisation which worked with the National Chamber of Commerce and the Ceylon National Chamber of Industries creating a non profit private firm, Ind-Expo Pvt. Ltd.

This firm signed an agreement with the Colombo Municipal Council to run a program called Crowns for Food Hygiene and to train the staff and also grade food establishment."In that we are very strict and get the food establishments audited by their own staff and our own staff. So far they have given crown only to about three or four places. To obtain this they have to apply for the certificate. Even a canteen operator could apply for the program", he said.

Dr. Kariyawasam says that the hygienic conditions of the eating houses should be further increased by checking the health condition of the food handlers.

The Food Act only says to check their stools. I think it is high time to check blood for hepatitis, typhoid, and even for sexually transmitted diseases because some countries are checking these workers for HIV also", Dr. Kariyawasam added.

All these time most of the hotels when they want the Tourist Board licence they get their workers medically checked. But that is a routine medical check-up. Maximum they are would do is to check the stools.But to upgrade these standards and check-ups the laboratories where they test food samples should also be upgraded.

"So we have to improve the laboratory system. For this we have to spend a lot. That is true. But it is good that we spend some money and improve the laboratory system to ensure safety. Then we can take corrective measures", he added. "When something is found spoilt only the lab can say this is spoilt. Then we can find how and why this had happened", Dr. Kariyawasam added.

For example we can check what type of germs that the food samples have. So we can talk to them and find out how these germs have entered these food samples. Some germs are either from the water from the meats or from the air. "Like that we can find out how it came to the product. So it is very important to have upgraded laboratories", he added.

"But we are facing difficulties in obtaining funds to upgrade laboratories. Funds are not readily available. We have also asked the UNIDO to help us to upgrade the laboratories", he added.

Safe meal

"But the most important factor for the public is the way of identifying places where they can have a safe meal. "Actually even those days eating houses are not safe. Yet people enter these places. So now we are trying to identify the places which are safe for the people", he said.

"For this we are going to introduce a sticker for the people to see whether it is a safe place or not very soon", Dr. Kariyawasam added.Normally at these places they should display the trade licence. The trade licence states that the water it gets, the water supply from the main line and the places are quite safe.

"In addition we have also given graded certificates. They have to display them also. Now what we are trying is to introduce a sticker which will show which place is safe for the people to consume food. Therefore, people could enter only such places", he added.

"In a month or two we will introduce that sticker. Because we want to ensure those places get water from the main lines", he said.Water is very important because even the top hotels they say they get purified and sterilised tube well water.

"What we will do is to make it compulsory for them to obtain a certificate from the Industrial Technological Institute or some reliable place to say that this water supply is safe. But legally they should not use tube well water whether it is safe or not", he added.Hoteliers can use tube well water only for watering the garden and to wash the outside floor but not for bathing or washing purposes.

When the authorities find contaminated food the offenders should be taken to courts.

"Once we taken them to courts and if they repeat the mistake we can close those eateries. And under epidemic situations we can close them. Otherwise we have to go to the Court and get a Court order", Dr. Kariyawasam added.

More than 40 percent of the places are operating without obtaining a licence. Some places are operating with a snack bar licence.But with all these unhygienic conditions prevailing in the city hotels, the authorities rarely get complaint from the public.

It is the people's responsibility to report about these if they want to see a improvement in the hygienic conditions of the eateries in the city."People should be vigilant.

If they come across to hotel or eatery that is not hygienic they can complain to 2676767. Give the hotel name. We don't need the name of the person complaining. We can go and check", Dr. Kariyawasam added.

Public support is essential for this as we don't have enough staff. to inspect these places monthly basis", he added saying that they are having only four Food Inspectors to inspect more than 1,000 eateries in the city.