Kicking bad kitchen practices

There is no shortage of eating houses in Colombo and the suburbs to serve the thousands who go out daily to eat. The eateries range from the humble “kottu kade” to fancy restaurants serving Chinese and Indian fare.

While the majority of eateries and restaurants may look clean enough on the outside, the reality behind the scenes – in the kitchens, pantries and other facilities – is often so bad that guests may not want to eat if they saw the shockingly unhygienic conditions in which their food is prepared.

The scene behind the scenes is often of dirty kitchens stacked high with dirty, greasy sinks cluttered with unwashed utensils, piles of stale or rotting vegetables, dirty toilets, and a vermin-infested environment alive with rats and roaches.

Public health inspectors check kitchen conditions at eateries in the city. It is the inspectors’ responsibilit to ensure that all food served at eating houses are prepared under hygienic conditions.

Under the Food Act, it is the responsibility of Health and Public Health Inspectors (PHIs) to ensure that all food served at public eateries and restaurants are prepared under hygienic conditions.

Last week, the Sunday Times accompanied a team of public health inspectors on their rounds of eateries in the city. The majority of these eateries, which are crowded at meal times, especially at night, were found to be far below acceptable hygiene standards.

It has been pointed out that the urban and suburban population is frequently victim to bowel diseases – such as dysentery, viral hepatitis, food poisoning and typhoid – all caused by unclean food, beverages and water, and more often than not the victims have been eating outside.There are 986 eating houses in Colombo city alone, but only 43 public health inspectors to check on their hygiene status.

According to an official at the Public Health Department of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC), public health inspectors have a lot on their plate these days, with assorted duties connected with disease control, following the outbreak of various diseases such as dengue and swine flu.

“We are heavily involved in prevention and control programmes, and as a result we are not able to focus on inspections of eating houses,” said the health official, who asked not to be named.

Eateries that are run by the owners themselves are usually cleaner and in a better state of hygiene than restaurants and cafes that are leased out, he said.

Vendors of food parcels are expected to get certification from the health authorities.

“Rented eating places are more unhygienic because the management is only interested in covering costs and making a profit. These places should be urged to adopt good hygiene practices. Until conditions improve, patrons should avoid going to such places,” he said.

Fining eateries for bad hygiene is one solution. “The fine is usually between Rs. 3,000 and Rs. 5,000. This is a very small fine for the owner of an eating house to pay,” the official said.

It has been observed that people working in the city these days preferred to buy lunch parcels from pavement hawkers than eat at places where hygiene standards were suspect. But here too there are problems, because there is no way of knowing in what conditions the lunch parcels are prepared.

“Vendors of food parcels coming from outside the city should get certification from the departments of the Ministry of Health operating in their home areas,” the official said. “Most of the time, this does not happen. We will be looking into this matter and taking stringent action. Those who bring food to sell in the city should be prepared any time to be subject to random food sample tests.”

The dearth of public health inspectors and a general lack of expertise in public health matters have resulted in a general drop in hygiene standards countrywide, charged the Public Health Inspector’s (PHI) Union.

According to PHI Union secretary Saliya Chandrakumara, there are only 1,650 public health inspectors in the whole country to serve a population of 20 million.

Food sold on the street often causes food poisoning, dysentery and other diseases.

“And of these 1,650 health inspectors, some 400 are involved in various other Health Ministry initiatives and administrative work. Only 1,250 are actually involved in ground-level work, including restaurant inspections and fining offenders.”

A public health inspector has a number of responsibilities, including food safety surveillance, inspections, organising prevention and awareness-raising programmes and related public health service activities. They also have to work with laboratories in the testing of food samples and initiate legal action when necessary.

“In most countries, health care officers are assigned to specific tasks in which they excel. In Sri Lanka, the inspectors know a little bit of everything. The knowledge and skills levels are not quite up to standard,” Mr. Chadrakumara said.

Most officers would like to have further training, education and certification in public health, but there are few such facilities available in Sri Lanka.

“The public health officers receive basically the same diploma that was introduced almost 100 years ago, in 1913, by the Royal Society for Public Health,” PHI Union secretary said. “This diploma was upgraded in 1972 with a two-year training programme. However, this is not enough when you consider the scope of work public health officers must cover. Public health is a dynamic field that is growing by the day. Our officers should be trained and keep abreast of international developments.”

Mr. Kumara said the union has requested the Ministry of Health to introduce a degree programme for young public health officers. He said better qualifications would help to stem such problems as bribing and corruption among officers.

Unhygienic conditions are common in the kitchens of city eateries. There are close to 1,000 eating houses in Colombo city, but only 43 health inspectors to do the rounds.

“The public find it easy to bribe certain corrupt officers. If there is any case of corrupt practice, it should be reported to the Bribery Commission. We need the support of the public to maintain a good and efficient public health service.”Mr. Chandrakumara said many corrupt public health officers have political protection. “Under the local authority system, corruption can occur among officers attached to the local authorities.”

Another problem was travel expenses. The majority of the public health officers are field officers who have to travel widely as part of their job, but they receive a paltry Rs. 2 per mile as their travel allowance.
“We have requested the Salary and Cadre Commission to raise the amount to at least to Rs. 20 per mile. But we have had no response so far.

”It is now up to the Ministry of Health to beef up its manpower in public health sector and give its officers a proper training and incentives to carry out their important job. Until this happens, the public will continue to be dished out sub-standard food at the majority of eateries.

Consumer protection officers to survey markets in the North and East and check on errant traders

Tamil-speaking investigative officers will be deployed to the North and East of the country to ensure traders are not taking advantage of naïve, unsuspecting customers or selling at exorbitant prices.

Rumy Marzook

Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) chairman Rumy Marzook says markets are coming up fast in the North and the East, now that the war has ended, and traders are moving in to make a quick buck.

Unfortunately, many of these traders are resorting to illegal market practices, such as selling food items at unreasonable prices or goods that have outlived their shelf life. The selling of goods with old expiry dates is a common practice among dodgy traders.

“Some traders are taking advantage of customers who are not fussy or vigilant,” Mr. Marzook said. “The public are largely not aware that they can report traders who are trying to sell them outdated food. Old cans of tinned fish are often fobbed off on unsuspecting customers.

Customers should also make sure they get a guarantee card for any electric items they buy.“It’s the right moment to be sending our officers to educate both the public and the traders operating in these recently liberated areas,” Mr. Marzook said.

The CAA officers will be instructed to check on labels and expiry dates and generally review the quality of consumer products sold. The Consumer Affairs Authority receives about 2,000 complaints from consumers every year, and between 400 and 500 cases are taken up for action.

The Consumer Affairs Authority has plans to amend the CAA act. “There have been a number of violations of price controls,” Mr. Marzook said. “With the new act, the Consumer Affairs Authority will be able to better monitor price movements and conduct market surveys and studies. And if products are overpriced, we will act.”