Meat Shop Shut in Tripoli for Failing to Meet Health Standards as Inspectors Attacked in Sabra
A meat shop was shut in the northern city of Tripoli on Sunday for failing to meet food safety standards as health safety inspectors were assaulted in the Sabra region in Beirut.
The National News Agency said that the meat shop, located at the Abou Ali roundabout, was closed after spoiled food was discovered there.
The meat was also packed and transported in a manner that violates food safety.
A sample of the meat was taken and it will be subject to necessary testing to determine whether it meets health standards.
Later on Sunday, MTV reported that the owners of meat and poultry stores in Sabra assaulted the Health Ministry's food safety inspectors as they were touring the local market.
Later on Sunday, MTV reported that the owners of meat and poultry stores in Sabra assaulted the Health Ministry's food safety inspectors as they were touring the local market.
However, the inspectors managed later in the day to enter the market and take food samples after they were escorted by members of “the popular committee, the Internal Security Forces, the General Security and the ISF Intelligence Bureau,” LBCI TV reported.
Security forces acted upon a request from Health Minister Wael Abou Faour.
“I will continue the food safety campaign and the inspectors will not leave the Sabra market,” he told MTV earlier on Sunday.
The minister had in recent weeks launched a food safety campaign throughout Lebanon.
He has announced so far three lists of institutions that do not meet safety standards. They include some popular restaurant chains and supermarkets that are serving customers food contaminated with bacteria and other inedible substances.
Violations included the presence of flies on the refrigerators of dairy products, the presence of open garbage bins in kitchens, workers not wearing gloves, and frying oil that was not changed for months.
A number of shops and establishments have been shut as part of the campaign, including the temporary closure of the Beirut and Tripoli slaughterhouses until they meet health standards.
M.T./Y.R.
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