Vendors urged to adhere to regulations for food preparation

Vendors on island are being reminded to adhere to the rules and regulations especially when preparing foods during the carnival celebrations in order to prevent food-borne illnesses.

Acting Chief Environmental Health Officer, Tassie Thomas said persons must be certified in order to sell food and alcohol.

“Usually around times like this, you find anywhere you have large amount of people congregating, you have a lot of people offering food for sale and we want to concentrate a lot on the food,” she said.

She continued, “We have been having certification programmes going on since January, almost every week to ensure that everybody is certified, meaning that you receive the right education. We tell you what to do as to preventing food from becoming contaminated and having people coming down with food-borne illness.”

Thomas explained that vendors have to carry their badge of food safety or have it placed in their bag, “that you can show me that this is my badge, it is current and we are looking forward to that.”

She went on to say that if a vendor does not have the badge, that individual will be ejected from the bar. You have to be properly clothed, “no sleeveless.”

According to Thomas, food-borne illness is almost negligible at those times, “but at the same time we do not want to boast that we are doing something so good that it is almost negligible.”

However she said, the department wants to emphasize that the vendors out there are doing something good, “and we want you to keep it up.”

“Although we cannot turn our backs on them, we want to keep policing, we have to be on the ground at all times,” Thomas stated.

She said food handlers should be properly attired when serving members of the public.

 “You have to be well attired,” she remarked. “You do not need jewelry on your body when preparing foods, because they, in themselves, is a source of contamination, germs for the foods that you are handling….you have to be properly clothed, no sleeveless.”

Meantime, Mayor of Roseau, Irene John said vendors who will be selling food on Carnival Monday [March 4] and Tuesday [March 5] must come to the office and apply.

“They must get a permit to be on the road and once they have gotten that permit, they must go to the income tax department to make sure that they get their permit to vend alcohol,” she noted. “We won’t be responsible for persons selling alcohol without permission.”

She warned vendors that when they are given a particular spot to vend they should avoid exchanging with other persons to prevent problems or confusion.

“We are trying to give everybody an opportunity to make a couple dollars so we are trying our best not to cause any problems or confusion as far as Carnival is concerned,” John indicated.

She also appealed to vendors to make sure they have receptacles to put the empty food containers after persons have patronized their bars.

“Don’t have people just drink and just throw them on the street or throw them in the gutter, because that is going to reflect on us,” she stated.

She advised vendors to try to do as much tidying around their area of vending.

 “Because if your bar is not attractive and is not clean persons are going to have doubts in their mind about patronizing your bar,” she advised.  “So let all of us make an effort to be clean and tidy as far as possible, as far as Carnival Monday and Tuesday…”

John believes that Dominica needs to be promoted as a clean and healthy country free from contamination and free from unnecessary debris.

She also appealed to vendors to make sure they have some lights in their bars as well as water to ensure proper sanitation.

She wished the public a clean and violent free Carnival.

“Let us go out there and be each other’s keeper, let us be friends on those days and not be enemies, let us not use that opportunity to hit  back…,” she noted.