DAMMAM: Some restaurants in the Eastern Province have responded to customer concerns over hygiene by installing television screens for enabling them to observe live all kitchen activities. According to Al-Hayat Arabic daily, the measure is designed to gain greater trust from the public concerning standards of hygiene, which municipality inspectors have described as “below par” at many food outlets. Customers themselves have also been critical of the work of local authorities. “Some of them don't even perform the least expected duties to monitor hygiene conditions at restaurants and other food places in town or outside,” one person said. “They need to step up health and environment inspections not just at restaurants but barber shops as well. The lack of proper monitoring means standards has been allowed to get worse.” Munir Muhammad, who works at a restaurant, which has erected screens allowing customers to observe its kitchens, said that the public had been asking more and more questions in recent times. “They ask about the personal hygiene and cleanliness of staff and the conditions of the kitchens,” he told Al-Hayat. “In the end, it led us to putting up the screens to let them see what goes on for themselves and put to rest any doubts they have.” He said he did not blame customers for their concerns over hygiene or the origin of the food products served at the restaurant. “Lots of restaurants do not meet the required standards of hygiene, and there are not enough inspections from the municipality,” he said. “Officials only come to check on us a few days a year.” A source at the Qatif Municipality admitted that there was a “shortage in health inspectors”. “Some of them are also on relatively low salaries, meaning the work isn't done as well as it could be,” he said. “There are some regions which are covered by no more than two inspectors.” Muhammad Al-Safyan, of the Public Relations Department at the Eastern Province Mayoralty, however, denied any shortcomings. “The first quarter of this year has seen some 520 inspection visits to barber shops in Qatif alone,” he said. “Over 7,000 shops and outlets were inspected, resulting in 1,165 warnings being issued to address 574 offenses registered by inspectors.” He said that the Qatif Municipality had seized during the same period three tons of food products deemed unfit for human consumption, including meat products, vegetables, fruit, juice, spices, biscuits, nuts and popcorn. “There is a year-round plan by which periodical inspections are made of all outlets that have any connection to public health,” he said.
