Dubai Municipality orders shawarma shops to follow guideline

By Parag Deulgaonkar

The Dubai Municipality has ordered food outlets that are preparing and selling “shawarma” to adhere to its guidelines issued in May 2015.

The civic body said 43 food outlets have met the requirements for the sale and preparation of shawarma, while 171 are working to adjust their situation.

It added 23 shops have canceled their activities while 245 outlets will start adjusting their situation to comply with the guidelines. The new guidelines were sent to 481 outlets, it said on its Instagram account.

Sultan Al Taher, food inspection director at the Municipality, said the aim of these new rules is to ensure a healthier environment for the preparation and selling of shawarma.

“We decided to issue these rules after we noticed that the restaurants involved in selling shawarma have largely increased and many of them prepare and sell this dish randomly. Our inspectors noticed that many restaurants do not have enough space for the preparation of shawarma although it has several components,” he told the Dubai-based Arabic language daily Emarat Alyoum.

As per the new rules all restaurants must ensure they have sufficient spaces of at least 10 square metres for the preparation and selling of shawarma. They should work to improve the storage systems for meat and all components of this dish.