LBCI reveals amendments made to the food safety law

Reduced fines paid by the violators of the food safety law are not stopping restaurants from violating the minimum food safety standards.        

The president of the Lebanese order of physicians Dr Charaf Abou Charaf announced told LBCI that there was a sharp increase in the number of poisoning cases. He stressed the importance of accountability and punishment.            

Abou Charaf tackled the rotten foodstuffs issue, calling for lifting the political cover on violators and let the judiciary do its job. Given that the mentioned violations are not enough, the government is trying to abolish mitigated sanctions through the ministries of labor and justice.        

The rotten foodstuffs file is being updated on a daily basis according to new discoveries. Most recently, an ISF patrol seized a quantity of rotten foodstuffs burned in a waste dump in Aitaroun and another quantity burned in a container in Tyre.         

Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud said that rotten meats seized in Lebanon do not exceed 128 tons out of the 10,000 tons sold by the Lebanese markets. Abboud added that 90% of the meats arrive to Lebanon alive as frozen meats only constitute 10% of the meat sale in Lebanon.          

As for the latest investigation updates, the First Investigating Judge in Beirut interrogated the arrested Sleiman Al Natour, while his brother Samih presented formal defenses. As the hearing was postponed to Monday, the judge issued two adversarial arrest warrants against them.