Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Kottu roti most unhygienic food in SL – CMC CMOH

BY Daya Perera - From Ceylon Today

The most unhygienic food in Sri Lanka is kottu roti, Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) Dr. Ruwan Wijayamuni said yesterday (31).
The roti made out of wheat flour is prepared days beforehand and sometimes kept refrigerated, and when it is not, cockroaches walk all over the rotis, he added.


Therefore, by the time it comes to prepare the kottu roti, the roti is already rife with germs, Dr. Wijayamuni said.
"The vegetables used are also cut beforehand. No one knows whether they are washed properly. When eggs are broken onto the roti, bird faeces stuck onto the eggshells too fall into the mix. If washed and sterilized eggs are used, this would not take place," he said.
Most of the food parcels sold at various places in and around the city are however prepared at one place, he said. "Thus, there is a lengthy delay between the time it is prepared and it is finally consumed. When the time lapse is long, germs definitely grow. Such a situation is highly problematic. It is best if the food is prepared where it is consumed. There are no provisions and powers in the Food Act to immediately shut down eateries which sell unhygienic food. The judicial process too needs to be expedited.

There are about 1,000 eateries in the city of Colombo ranging from small tea shops to five star hotels. About 90% are small eateries and about 75% of these small eateries are operating on rent or lease. Thus, renovations cannot be done. Eateries operating on prescribed standards of the CMC will be registered and licenCed and a certificate will be issued. The registering and licensing of canteens will start from 7 April," Dr. Wijayamuni said.

No comments:

Post a Comment