A total of 5,280 bottles of sparkling water, in 330ml containers, were destroyed last month after health inspectors established the expiry dates had been tampered with.
According to the Department for Environmental Health another 645 kilos of flour mix and 23.5 kilos of noodles were destroyed due to the possible presence of unauthorised genetically-modified organisms, as reported to Malta via the rapid alert system for food and feed.
Packaging in unlicensed premises led to 20 kilos of foodstuffs being trashed along with 20 kilos of chicken breast, which were insufficiently labelled, 19.2 kilos of fish, three kilos of honey because of authenticity issues and 1.5 kilos of peppered ġbejniet due to improper labelling.
A total of 352 improvement notices were issued by the Department for Environmental Health in March, a slight increase over February but not as many as January. These notices are served on food business operators if deficiencies are found in their establishments following random inspections by environmental health officers. The operators are given a specific date by which deficiencies should be corrected.
If the shortcoming is major, legal action is taken.
Shalimar Indian restaurant, in Salini Street, Marsascala, was closed down and an emergency prohibition order served due to unhygienic conditions noted during an inspection.
Four emergency control orders were issued to businesses to stop part of their activities.
Over the last three months, 93 health inspectorate cases were decided by court and those found guilty were given conditional discharges ranging from three months to two years.
A total of just over €5,000 fines were imposed for keeping dairy products in the temperature danger zone against Golden Harvest in Floriana and Porto Azzurro and Slipway Store, both in St Paul's Bay.
Champ Pastizzeria in St Julians and Dimples Bar in Mosta, faced court proceedings for irregularities.
The operators of Bezzina Garage, in Żebbuġ, were arraigned for employing food handlers without the necessary registration cards.
The following were among those given conditional discharges exceeding one year: the operator of Kingfisher Restaurant in Wied iż-Żurrieq for not abiding by the conditions laid down in an undertaking; the operator of Farm 59, Marsa, for keeping an unapproved farm and keeping a food business in unhygienic conditions; and the operator of Freddie's Discount Store for exposing food to risk of contamination, improper labelling and pest infestation, among others.
Types of complaints
In all, 336 complaints relating to environmental health and 83 to food were lodged with the Health Inspectorate last month.
The most common type of environmental health complaints were:
• Pest infestation - 89 complaints
• Infiltration of water - 84 complaints
• Drainage overflow - 35 complaints
• Defective drains - 21 complaints
• Keeping animals in unhygienic conditions - 20 complaints
The most common type of food safety complaints were:
• Food labelling - 16 complaints
• Unhygienic premises - 14 complaints
• Unfit food - 14 complaints
• Unhygienic conditions - eight complaints
• Personal malpractice - six complaints