WATCH OUT!, Food outlets sell spoiled food

Gibson Mhaka
EAT at your own risk, dirty, dirty Bulawayo’s food outlets!

The stern warning came after the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) issued a scathing food hygiene report saying some of the city’s food outlets have a “zero” hygiene rating because they are “very dirty” and selling ‘rotten’ food to the public.

The hygiene concerns are contained in the latest council minutes in which Ward 9 Councillor Donaldson Mabuto noted that the standards of food hygiene in restaurants and food outlets in the city was deteriorating as some food outlets sold spoilt food to consumers thereby putting their health and safety at risk.

“Councillor D Mabuto noted with concern that the standards of food hygiene in restaurants and food outlets in the city was deteriorating as some food outlets sold spoiled food to consumers. He urged Council’s Health Inspectors to monitor food outlets in order to ensure that they adhered to the Public Health by-laws,” the minutes read in part.

Ward 24 Clr, Arnold Batirai Dube also shared the same sentiments citing that unregistered food outlets were a health hazard to the city while Ward 20 Clr Alderman Ernest Rafamoyo suggested that unlicensed operators should be dealt with in terms of existing by-laws and statutes.

The city has also witnessed the mushrooming of backyard restaurants, posing a health hazard to residents.
A snap survey carried out by B-Metro around Bulawayo showed that unlicensed food outlets have mushroomed in every street in the city.

Some of the food outlets are not conducive for food retailing as they are located in the middle of other businesses.
They also do not adhere to best food safety and hygiene practices as foul smells and cockroaches and dead flies are usually found in the ordered meal.

The proliferation of these backyard food outlets and vendors has, however, exposed the local authority’ failure to deal with the problem of food vendors.
A local public health practitioner who spoke on condition of anonymity citing professional reasons said the health and safety of consumers were being put at risk due to restaurants and food outlets’ laxity and ignorance.

“The report by the city council (Bulawayo City Council) means that a lot of food outlets in the city are poor performers and they are putting the health and safety of consumers at risk. The City Fathers are also blamed for allowing food vending to thrive in the city.

“This is because these backyard food outlets expose residents to health hazards as most of them are trading at places that are unhealthy.

“Workers at these food outlets don’t usually wear the required gloves or hairnets while preparing or serving food. These are some of the things they need to focus on, but they are not practicing them,” said the public health practitioner.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), two million people die annually as a result of consuming unsafe food.
WHO says unsafe food containing harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances causes more than 200 diseases, ranging from diarrhoea to cancers.