Recent events have caught the attention of authorities as they begin inspecting restaurants and food outlets all over Malaysia. They’ve been making sure that every shop complies to the rules and regulations of hygienic practices to ensure customers are served clean and uncontaminated food.
As part of this move, the Kota Bharu Islamic City Municipal Council has also included the Islamic dress code as one of the criteria in assessing grades for food outlets, reported The Star.
Ahmad Robert Abdul Rahim, the council president, mentioned that officers are not only looking into the cleanliness of the eateries but are also looking into the attire of the management and staff as part of the grading process. This includes checking on whether their aurat are covered up.
For Muslims, aurat are parts of the body that should not be seen in public.
Yesterday (July 17), Abdul Rahim attended a joint operation with the district health office to check the cleanliness of food premises.
“To score Grade A, the eateries must fulfil the main conditions, including hygienic food preparation and handling, cleanliness of the premises and whether the workers are properly covered up,” he said.
He also added that there would be a little ‘reward’ for those who have observed stringent hygienic practices and have won Grade A status, as their shops would be highlighted on social media.
The council is now working to grade 3,018 licensed food outlets in the city.
“Over the last two weeks, we inspected 239 premises and gave Grade A (very clean) to 22 premises, Grade B (clean) to 107 eateries and Grade C (less clean) to 110 outlets,” Abdul Rahim said.
Do you think that covering up the ‘aurat’ should be part of the grading process? Let us know in the comments below.
Also read: 3 Famous Nasi Kandar Restaurants in Penang Shut Down Due to Poor Hygiene