Called Out: Who Regulates the Nation's Food Industry?

Public shaming campaigns on social media are calling out unhygienic food establishments, but what is the government doing to regulate the nation's food industry?

by Ahmed Mansour

Back in August, some 400,000 viewers watched and shared a video of a large rat nibbling at a salad bar in what was allegedly a fast food restaurant at one of New Cairo’s busiest malls. A few months earlier reports that donkey meat was being passed off as beef and complaints that processed cheese and lunch meat producers were using expired ingredients were all over Facebook, prompting heated discussions on radio and TV shows. But while vermin and insect infestations at restaurants, poor hygiene standards and foodstuffs unfit for human consumption are by no means new to Egypt, recent public shaming campaigns on social media and traditional news media are not only calling out unclean establishments and encouraging consumers to boycott them, they’re succeeding in making the authorities sit up and take notice.

Case in point is the TBS incident this past Ramadan. Six people came down with severe food poisoning after eating from the local bakery chain and the news was quickly shared on social media. Within hours a post on the TBS official Facebook page carried an apology along with an explanation that the fault lay in the baking process whereby the eggs used in their signature Om Ali, launched for Ramadan, were undercooked, resulting in bacteria in some 25 to 30 pots. “We cannot express how sad and shocked we are to learn of the suffering of some of our clients and we will never be able to apologize enough to ease their frustration and pain,” the post added.

TBS later announced they would handle all hospital expenses of clients who had fallen ill from their product, promising that those responsible would be penalized and that the quality would improve.

Unlike thousands of food poisoning cases before it, the TBS incident was not able to fly under the radar thanks to the wave of activity on Facebook and Twitter. The news was shared so much that it wasn’t long before the Ministry of Health announced a decision to shut down the TBS factory and two of its branches after finding they failed to meet food safety standards.

But several weeks have since elapsed, and at press time TBS was still operating, with no indications that they would be shutting down anytime soon.

“I understand that there have been many issues regarding the spoiled Om Ali batch that led to the poisoning of six people, but there hasn’t been any talk about TBS shutting down,” says Mohamed Ghazala, a chef at TBS’ 6th of October branch. “I heard rumors but no one has informed me that I’ll be out of a job soon, so I doubt they will shutting down at all.”

So why do places like TBS and others that are deemed unsafe continue to operate when the government decides that they should shut down?

“There are plenty of reasons government decisions to close down establishments or factories are neglected, but if I had to choose one in particular, it is the greasing of palms,” claims Farid Edward, owner of To Go fast food restaurant in 6th of October City. “I wouldn’t go as far as accusing the government of corruption, but I do have to say that they there are some corrupted elements that obstruct the application of a decision to close down a multimillion franchise or factory because people got sick. Owners of a well-known franchise, company, or restaurant is sure to be well connected and bribes play a big role in these situations.”

There are many rules and regulation set by the Ministry of Health that establishments dealing in foodstuffs have to abide by in order to preserve food from being spoiled, and there are also multiple vetting procedures to ensure products meet standards.

“Among those rules, and the most important of them, is that everything inside the restaurant or the factory should be labeled with the expiry date. If a company uses a product that is expired but still being processed, this company faces legal action that might lead to the closure of the facility. As for the meats and chicken, they should be properly stored at regulated temperatures that can keep them fresh for a certain time,” says Egyptian Consumer Protection Agency official Mohamed Ghabour. “We really do care about the welfare of the Egyptian citizen, and we have a large team focused solely on investigating restaurants and factories all across Egypt. We make thorough surprise inspections, and if we find intentional violations we make sure that we report the facility to the authorities so that proper action can be taken against them.”

Organizations like the Egyptian Consumer Protection Agency receive complaints on their hotline which they then investigate. All they can do is call out violators — but they cannot take legal action against them. The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Supply too can investigate cases. Ministry inspectors are tasked with roaming the streets of Egypt in search of violations at restaurants and factories. Mahmoud Diab, official spokesman of the Ministry of Supply, clarifies that the role of the Ministry of Supply inspectors stops short of legal action against establishment owners. “Inspectors are only authorized to file a report. The general prosecutor alone can take the decision to close down an establishment,” he told reporters last month after three lunch meat factories were shuttered. It is here, between the investigators’ report and the decision to take action against an establishment, it is commonly thought, where the corruption starts to appear.

One establishment that has had a dodgy reputation for some time is El-Prince in Imbaba. A few months ago authorities succeeded in closing down the popular Oriental restaurant after documenting spoiled meats and produce on site following a surprise inspection by the Ministry of Health that turned up “around 100 kg of spoiled meats and vegetables,” according to local media.

“There have been many attempts made by officials to close El-Prince down, but somehow the owner of the restaurant, Nasser El-Prince, managed to get off by paying fines and compensation to those who were poisoned from the food served there, in order for them to drop the charges against the restaurant,” alleges lawyer Omar Hamada. “It wasn’t until the son of a government official came down with poisoning that El-Prince was officially red-flagged and closed for good."

Read the full article in the September issue.