The Department of Environmental Health is responsible for protecting the health of consumers and ensuring that establishments comply with safety standards. The Department’s activities are focused on ensuring that food, water, and air quality standards are met and that all establishments comply with these standards. The Department ensures that there are safe food products, suitable water supplies, and clean air within the country by testing, inspecting, and issuing licenses where required.
The establishment of the Department of Environmental Health
The establishment of the Department Environmental Health was a major milestone in the history of health care in the UAE. It was established under Decree No (1) of 1977, which also created other departments such as Public Health and Environment Affairs (PHE), Food Control Authority, Water and Electricity Authority (W&EA), Civil Defense and Ambulance Services Authority (CDA), Federal Traffic Council and Meteorology Department.
The main objective of this department was to protect public health by preventing food poisoning cases at hotels, restaurants, and similar establishments across Dubai through inspection programs based on internationally recognized standards such as ISO 22000:2005; HACCP; GMP, etc., along with educating people about proper food safety practices. It also ensured safe drinking water supplies through regular testing of wells by qualified environmental health professionals who have trained abroad before returning home after completing their studies abroad.”
The Department’s Activities Are Focused On Ensuring That Food
The Department’s activities are focused on ensuring that food, water, and air quality standards are met and that all establishments comply with these standards.
The Department’s responsibilities include:
- Monitoring food production, processing, and distribution activities to ensure compliance with federal regulations;
- Monitoring restaurant hygiene practices;
- Investigating complaints about unhygienic conditions in restaurants or other food outlets;
- Inspecting commercial kitchens where large quantities of cooked food are produced (e.g., canteens);
The Department Ensures That There Are Safe Food Products
The Department Environmental Health ensures that there are safe food products, suitable water supplies, and clean air within the country by testing, inspecting and issuing licenses where required. This is done to ensure that the public is aware of any potential health risks associated with such products or services. The FDA is charged with protecting consumers against impure, unsafe, and fraudulently labeled products. FDA, through its Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), regulates foods other than the meat, poultry, and egg products regulated by FSIS. Access to sufficient amounts of safe and nutritious food is key to sustaining life and promoting good health. Unsafe food containing harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites, or chemical substances causes more than 200 diseases, ranging from diarrhea to cancer.
The Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) are responsible for ensuring that all food premises comply with statutory requirements relating to hygiene standards as well as general food safety issues such as contamination by microbial pathogens or chemical residues. They inspect restaurants, hotels, boarding houses, and any other premises where people eat out regularly in order to ensure compliance with these requirements before granting a license that allows them to operate legally.
The Department Is Committed To Protecting Consumers’ Health
Consumer protection safeguards the well-being and interests of consumers through education, mobilization, and representation. Consumer protection ensures that consumers make well-informed decisions about their choices and have access to effective redress mechanisms. The Department is committed to protecting consumers’ health. We work closely with the Ministry of Health and Prevention, as well as the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, the Ministry of Interior and Security, and other relevant ministries.
We also collaborate with private sector organizations such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), trade unions, and business associations in order to ensure that all Ghanaians have access to safe food products at all times.
The FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection stops unfair, deceptive, and fraudulent business practices by collecting reports from consumers and conducting investigations, suing companies and people that break the law, developing rules to maintain a fair marketplace, and educating consumers and businesses about their rights and responsibilities. Consumer Protection Act provides Consumer Rights to prevent consumers from fraud or specified unfair practices. These rights ensure that consumers can make better choices in the marketplace and get help with complaints.
Conclusion
The Department Environmental Health is committed to protecting consumers’ health. The Department’s activities are focused on ensuring that food, water, and air quality standards are met and that all establishments comply with these standards. We hope you have found this article informative and useful in understanding how we can help you keep your family safe from harmful substances in our environment.
