Over a 1000 food outlets inspected, 70 shut down

Maldives Food and Drug Authority (MFDA) reported that a thousand food outlets were inspected in the recent Male' region sweep, resulting in the closure of 70 outlets for violations. 

MFDA said that their team had inspected a 1000 food establishments during the inspections carried out from September 21 to October 1. This includes outlets registered at MFDA, outlets operating without a license, and outlets whose licenses have expired. 

The inspections were carried out by the MFDA in collaboration with Male' City Council and Housing Development Corporation (HDC). 

They said 70 outlets faced closure due to being unregistered, or having expired licenses. 27 outlets were issued new licenses as they had submitted applications for license renewal or registration.

MFDA did not disclose the names of any of the 70 outlets that were shut down. Previously, when inspections were led by HPA, names of outlets that faced closure were made public. 

MFDA has previously stated that names of businesses and individuals will not be publicized, although the number of outlets where issues are found would be disclosed.