From mugs to dishes, health lab tests them all

Have you ever considered that the colourful bowl you eat out of could be leaching trace metals? Did you ever think of what happens when you put your bright mug in the microwave and whether it is safe to drink from it?

The Public Health Laboratory, hidden in Evans Building, Valletta, carries out such tests, apart from the over 20 chemical and biological monitoring programmes it conducts every year.

The chemical section of the lab is analysing bowls and plates to determine whether they are giving off any substances that could be harmful. “Things that we take for granted,” according to Health Minister Joseph Cassar.

Of the mugs that were tested last year, only two were found to be harmful and were withdrawn from the market.

Speaking on the first media tour of the lab this week, Dr Cassar praised the work of its 25 employees, including scientists, whose efforts went by unnoticed and who contributed considerably to public health.

Its main aim, he said, was to protect the public’s health through the biological, chemical and physical analysis of food, animal feed and the environment. It is accredited to carry out 21 tests in these fields.

Last year, it was responsible for the chemical analysis of 22 food programmes and another 14 microbiological investigations.

About 8,000 samples were examined, which resulted in thousands of chemical tests. The vast majority tested negative, meaning they were normal, lab head Albert Gambin said.

It is also the National Reference Laboratory for 18 chemical and biological parameters in food and animal feed as well as for Legionella.

The Public Health Laboratory also carries out monitoring programmes related to hygiene and quality of food, bottled, tap, sea and pool water, dust material, radiation and other pollution. It also conducts investigations into food poisoning.

It was kept busy during the Fukushima nuclear incident and the E. coli outbreak, Dr Cassar said.

He urged the Maltese to report lack of hygiene in food and not adopt a code of silence in these issues.