How Dubai is using smart packaging, AI to measure food freshness, ensure safety
Dubai is using technology to ensure food safety, applying innovative ways to go the extra mile when it comes to identifying risks to public health and detecting violations through meticulous inspections.
Dubai Municipality has also launched the second edition of the Dubai Food Elite (DFE) programme to build a culture of food safety in the emirate
A unified permit system by Dubai Municipality has cut down the time taken for business operators to apply for permits by 75 per cent. The time required to apply for permits dropped from 40 minutes to 10 minutes which helped rejection rates plummet 80 per cent.
The second edition of the DFE aims to include more than 500 establishments and further promote a culture of excellence in Dubai's food sector. Last year, several restaurants were granted the special status for going above and beyond to maintain food safety standards.
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The third edition of the Dubai Food Safety Forum took place on Tuesday and brought together representatives from the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), and other members of the public and private sector organisations, as well as academic institutions.
According to Sultan Al Taher, Director of Food Safety Department at DM, the emirate of Dubai goes the extra mile to ensure food safety. 'We have 26,000 food establishments in Dubai and more than 350,000 food handlers,' he said. 'We are receiving about 8 million tons of food yearly through the emirate of Dubai. The food safety department oversees inspection of these facilities, and we carry out more and more inspections. We have around 60,000 food inspections every year.'
The civic body uses technology to predict risks to food safety and prevent accidents. According to food safety officer Abdulazim Alsadani, some food products have smart packaging which gives real-time information about the product, like temperature and freshness.
Additionally, they use artificial intelligence and other technology to foresee problems and risks. This helps them put in place preventive measures even before violations occur.
Bobby Krishna from the food safety department reiterated that the aim of the DFE was for businesses to take ownership. 'We want to incrementally improve the culture,' he said. 'Food safety should not be the business of the leaders. It should be a joint effort by the entire team.'
He added that the DFE was different from regular food inspections. 'Inspections look at violations specifically and check whether restaurants comply with the regulations,' he said. 'Meanwhile, DFE recognises and rewards those institutions which have a food safety culture.'
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