Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA) has ordered the administrative closure of "Emirates Delight Dates Factory" located at Al Ain, which holds business license No. IN- 1001465, for violating Law No. (2) of 2008 regarding Food in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and its regulations. The move comes as part of ADAFSA's efforts to maintain the quality of locally-produced dates, and to ensure the commitment of industrial facilities to apply the best practices in production and supply chain.

The authority clarified the report of its Food Control Division showed the failure of the factory to comply with health, safety and hygiene standards, which may pose a threat to the public's health, adding the closure decision was preceded by issuing several notices of violation against the facility in 2019.

ADAFSA affirmed the factory will remain closed as long as violations exist. The factory's owners would be allowed to run again their business after improving its conditions and committing to health and hygiene standards.

According to ADAFSA, the prominent reason led to the shut down decision is the supervisor's failure to control insects existing in production places, thus contaminating food items. In addition, three violations were issued against the factory in January and December 2019.

Furthermore, ADAFSA stressed that detecting violations is part of its inspection efforts to improve food safety standards in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Such efforts reflect the authority's strict control over all food facilities, which subject to periodic inspections drives to ensure their compliance with all food safety standards.

ADAFSA urged consumers to report any violations or concerns about any food facility by contacting Abu Dhabi Government Contact Center on 800555. This helps the authority's inspectors take the necessary action, to ensure providing safe and healthy food for all consumers across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.