Shawarma will not cost more or be in short supply due to the closure of shawarma stands that did not adhere to new hygiene and safety rules, officials have said.
Instead, the popular Arabic delicacy will now be safer to eat and will be cooked in better hygienic conditions, Gulf News quoted Dubai Municipality and outlets that have implemented new rules.
When the six-month deadline for implementing the new rules ended on October 31, as many as 113 establishments had completely stopped the activity of shawarma making and another 141 of them had not taken any action on the new requirements at all and hence will not be allowed to sell shawarmas, a senior official reportedly said last week.
These outlets accounted for 45 per cent of the 572 small and medium food outlets selling shawarma that were asked to implement the rules related to space, equipment and storage requirements aimed at enhancing hygiene and safety of the popular snack, the report said.
Of the 572, as many as 318 have either made or are in the process of making the changes to their existing conditions to comply with the guidelines. Also, there are several hundreds of larger establishments that have already been selling shawarmas by meeting all these requirements, Sultan Ali Al Taher, the head of food inspection section at the food safety department of Dubai Municipality, reportedly said.
Another official rebutted speculations that the new rules would create a shortage of shawarmas or lead to a hike in prices as outlets make structural changes to meet the requirements, said the news portal.
“These are small restaurants and cafeterias which did not meet the minimum requirements. They have just complied with them now … and the cost for that is not exorbitant,” Bobby Krishna, the principal food inspector of the municipality, was quoted as saying.
“Also the ones that were already complying [with the same rules] are selling [shawarma] for the same price. So, there is no question of these [small restaurants and cafeterias] hiking the cost for meeting the safety requirements and offering safer food to their customers,” he said.
Krishna also explained that those joints that stopped their shawarma sale will still be allowed to reopen if they meet the new requirements. “Only those joints that do not follow the regulations will be stopped from selling shawarmas.”
