Hygiene concerns raised

THE Independent Consumer Competition Commission (ICCC) Mamose office has raised concerns over unhygienic standards in food preparation and handling processes in kai bars in Lae, Morobe.
ICCC Mamose manager Timothy Ponau said most kai bars lacked proper food preparation and handling standards in their kitchens while their cooks had no appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) to wear when cooking and selling to customers.
Ponau visited a Bangladeshi-owned kai bar at Bumayong last Friday and directed the manager to shut down indefinitely in order to improve its cooking facilities, food preparation and handling processes, including providing cooking staff with PPEs such as gloves and face masks.
He also observed that food was left exposed (cooked and pre-cooked) and staff were using the same area to sleep and smoke.
He said a similar thing was happening at the Malahang Mart kai bar which resulted in it being shut down until the management addressed environmental health, hygiene and sanitation issues.
“To protect the health of our citizens, all kai bars baking fish flour, sausage flour and flour balls need to comply with environmental health and hygiene rules,” he said.
Ponau said the Lae city authority and Lae environmental health officers needed to inspect all kai bars to ensure they met the requirements of food preparation, handling, health, sanitation and waste management standards.