The following is a summary of some activities undertaken by the Health Inspectorate Services of the Environmental Health Directorate within the Public Health Regulation Department during the month of February, 2011.

Improvement Notices Issued to Food Business Operators

492 improvement notices in terms of article 33 of the Food Safety Act have been issued to food business operators by the Health Inspectorate Services.

This notice is sent to all food business operators following an unannounced inspection by Environmental Health Officers within their establishment. The intention of this notice is to inform food operators about deficiencies noted in their establishments while the operator is given a specific deadline by when the deficiencies need to be remedied. Though the seriousness of deficiencies might vary, legal action is initiated when major deficiencies are noted.

Undertakings with Food Business Operators

During the same month, nineteen undertakings were entered into with food business operators. Fifteen concerned hygiene of premises such as provision of washing facilities, HACCP, etc and four concerned improperly labelled food.

Undertakings are legal agreements between the food business operators and the Health Authority specifying deadlines by when deficiencies in their premises should be remedied or to re-label products in compliance with standing legislation. Failure to abide with the agreed deadlines results in Court proceedings being initiated.

Destruction of Food

In February, over 405 kg of different foodstuffs were destroyed by the Health Inspectorate, ranging from:

o 246kg of meat products and 56.8kg of grocery items which were expired;

o 37kg of several food items as these were exposed to risk of contamination; and

o 11kg of eggs and 11kg of chicken breast due to improper labelling

Legionella Audits and Pool Inspections

Twelve audits at Hotels, and other similar premises to ascertain compliance with Control of Legionella Regulations, 2006 (L.N. 5 of 2006) and the Registration of Cooling Towers and Evaporative Condensers Regulations, 2006 (L.N. 6 of 2006) were performed by the Health Inspectorate during last month.

During the same month, sixteen swimming pools were inspected during six relevant audits carried out by the Health Inspectorate to verify compliance with Swimming Pools Regulations, 2005 (L.N. 129 of 2005). This regulation specifies that all swimming pools with the exception of those situated at a single family residence need to register with this Directorate.

During February, three swimming pools were registered with this Directorate in terms of mentioned regulation. A list of registered pools can be found in the Directorate’s website mentioned below.

Inspections of Schools

During February, twenty-seven schools were inspected to ensure compliance with general hygiene requirements. Such inspections are carried out in private, government or church owned schools and whether, primary, secondary, tertiary or language or special schools.

Abatement Notices

Twelve abatement notices were issued during the previous month by the Health Inspectorate in terms of the Public Health Act and in view of inspections and audits carried out in the previous days.

Food Consignments

Thirty-three consignments of food imported into Malta were also inspected in February by Environmental Health officers attached with the Port Health Services within this Directorate.

Ship Sanitation Certificates

During February, twenty-two Ship Sanitation Certificates were issued by the Port Health Services. Such inspections are carried out in terms of the International Health Regulations of 2005 and involve the assessment of the general hygienic conditions and control measures undertaken on ships. Such certificate needs to be renewed every 6 months at an authorised port; Malta being an authorised port.

Applications and Consultations

During February, another unit within the Environmental Health Directorate, the Food Safety Unit, received forty-four requests to process applications to operate a food business. Prospective operators who wish to open a food business are obliged to apply for a permit with the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) and then apply for the actual licence with the competent authority such as the Trade Licensing Unit or Malta Tourism Authority. At every stage, this Directorate is consulted in order to verify suitability of proposed premises.

During the same month, Environmental Health Officers deployed within this unit processed one consultation to food businesses and carried out a total of 70 visits.

With regards to non-food applications, the Health Inspectorate received another seventeen applications for clearance with respect to proposed outlets such as tattooists, beauticians, hairdressers, etc.

Samples

During February, 339 samples were elevated by the Health Inspectorate and submitted to the Public Health Laboratory for analysis and/or examination for several parameters;

o 169 food samples,

o 58 potable water samples,

o 24 swabs,

o 69 infiltration water samples, and

o 19 other samples.

During the last months, the Directorate also launched its sampling programmes as has been done in recent years. Throughout this year, 16 microbiological sampling programmes and 28 chemical sampling programmes are planned.

Recalls

Throughout last month, no food products were recalled.

Contraventions

In the past month, eleven contraventions were issued/processed by the Health Inspectorate, six of which were food related as follows:

o One retail outlet in Bormla due to unhygienic conditions;

o One hawker in a car boot sale in M’Scala for having in possession several foodstuffs which was not of the nature, substance and quality demanded by the purchaser and the labelling of which was also misleading;

o One bakery hawker in Birgu for selling foodstuffs the labelling of which was in contravention to labelling regulations, and lacked in providing adequate washing facilities;

o One retail outlet in Zabbar for selling foodstuffs the labelling of which was misleading to consumers;

o One butcher shop in Zabbar for keeping frozen poultry cuts at inappropriate temperatures, for exposing food to risk of contamination, having in possession foodstuffs with improper labelling and for not providing adequate facilities for the collection, identification and the disposal of Animal by-Products;

o One catering establishment in Qormi for not providing adequate facilities, lack of cleanliness and premises in bad state of repair, failing to provide a HACCP system, and for exposing food to risk of contamination;

The following environmental related citations were also issued / processed:

o Four catering outlets in Sliema for allowing smoking in enclosed areas;

o One illegal tattooist in a private residence in B’Kara

Emergency Control and Prohibition Orders

During February, no food business was closed down but one butcher was ordered to stop producing Maltese-type sausages without a licence and was thus served with an Emergency Control Order.

Complaints

In February, 397 complaints were lodged with the Directorate which were categorised in one or more category, as follows:

o Food related complaints

Eighty-two complaints were related to food. The most common type of food complaints concerned improper labelling of food (15 complaints), risk of contamination (12 complaints), unfit food (10 complaints) and unhygienic premises (7 complaints),

o Other Environmental Health related complaints

Another 344 complaints were environmental health related. Once again, the most common type concerned the presence of pests (78 complaints), infiltrations (70 complaints), cigarette vending machines (34 complaints), accumulations of refuse (25 complaints), leakage/defective drains (23 complaints), and drainage overflows (20 complaints),

Note: The number of complaints and the number of categories do not tally, since one complaint received may encompass one or more categories.

The Environmental Health Directorate takes this opportunity to remind the public that it can contact the Health Inspectorate Services between 07:30am and 03:30pm on telephone number 21337333, by calling personally at its offices at 37-39, Rue D’Argens, Msida or by email complaints.ph@gov.mt .

For further information, the public is also encouraged to visit the Directorate’s website at URL: https://ehealth.gov.mt/HealthPortal/public_health/environmental-health/department_for_env_health.aspx

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