Updated 2.20pm
Street vendors who set up stalls at busy junctions, selling fruit and vegetables exposed to fumes from cars zooming past, will be facing more stringent rules soon.
The Environmental Health Directorate is drafting “sector specific” laws that better address health and safety issues involving street vendors.
A spokeswoman for the Health Ministry told the Times of Malta that while street vendors were obliged by law to register as food handlers and undergo a course in food safety and hygiene, a new legal notice was being drafted to make the law more sector specific.
The spokeswoman also pointed out that at present, street vending fell within the general requirements with respect to food production, processing, storing, distribution, transportation and presentation for sale as laid down in the Food Safety Act.
The change in the law would include more specific rules for the different activities.
The Times of Malta flagged the issue after the Commissioner for Environment and Planning David Pace, part of the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman, highlighted the lack of control over the health risks of consuming food while dining al fresco.
Some of these vendors park close to roundabouts where hundreds of motorists drive past them.
As outdoor cafes and restaurants pop up at every corner of the island, the commissioner lamented there seemed to be no control over health risks of eating food in an atmosphere thick with dust and exhaust fumes.
But the Times of Malta noted a similar trend with fruit and vegetable vendors setting up their stalls at busy junctions. Some of these vendors park close to roundabouts where hundreds of motorists drive past them.
READ: Abuse of al fresco dining is getting worse, commissioner notes
In most cases, those manning the stalls take few precautions to ensure the food is not exposed to the fumes.
The Environmental Health Directorate issues a health clearance with respect to the vehicle and place of storage, but licences, including the areas from where they can operate, are issued by another competent authority
The ministry spokeswoman said that the Environmental Health Directorate issues a health clearance with respect to the vehicle and place of storage, but licences, including the areas from where they can operate, are issued by another competent authority.
“One has to point out that the legal responsibility for ensuring food safety within a food business rests solely with the food business operator.
“Notwithstanding this, environmental health officers do perform risk assessment inspections of food vendors and their place of storage and action is taken on the level of risk noticed during the inspection or during an investigation of a complaint,” the spokeswoman noted.
The Environmental Health Directorate's plans may well run into opposition from parliamentary secretary for agriculture Clint Camilleri, who in a tweet argued that while "public health should always be a priority, it is imperative to protect our sensitive agricultural sector."