In 2008, some 300 persons showed food poisoning symptoms after consuming khebab in Flacq. Some weeks ago, about 150 persons needed medical treatment after eating cakes sold by “Patisserie Marday”, in the same region. (Defimedia figures). In October 2009, the authorities seized tons of meat from Innodis and a few days later, a prohibition order was issued to KFC, ordering the immediate closure of all KFC outlets. The discovery of Salmonella in their products soon became the talk of the town. I believe that this has been the most advertised case till now, especially with the rumors spreading about the arrival of Nandos in Mauritius.
A couple of weeks back, a Facebook friend (Neel) found a dead lizard in an Indian dish which he ordered in a restaurant situated on the Port Louis Waterfront. Disgusted, he informed the medias and he was kind enough to allow me to publish the picture of his plate.
Even Dhaneesha had once found a cockroach in her fried noodles in one of the most famous Chinese restaurants found along the “La Rue Royale” of Port Louis and 2 weeks ago, my cousins fell ill after consuming lobsters in another restaurant in Caudan.
Since yesterday, another restaurant has found its way to this ever growing list. The authorities ordered the temporary closure of a prestigious restaurant in Trianon, the “Imperial China” because of non-respect of the regulations mentioned in food act.
Among the so many cases reported till now, you have surely concluded that street food is not the only one concerned. I even heard people talking about the disgusting practice in some hotel kitchens. You might be shocked to know that a close person once told me :
“Rice thrown in the bin was served to customers.”
Believe me, that happened in the kitchen of a 5 stars hotel!
There’s a serious problem with food and hygiene nowadays. Many people have already stopped consuming food outdoors, whether for a pair of a dholl puri at Rs12 or a piece of Lobster of several hundred rupees. The several food poisoning cases have definitely changed the eating habit of the Mauritian population. More and more people are now choosing healthier food and prefer carrying their home made food in their tiffins.
The concerned authorities have been doing a good job till now, thumbs up to them. They have shown that they can produce results if they have the determination.
To end with this post, here’s some words from the local sega group, Monaster :
“Faire attention danger, guet bien kant to manzer.
Ena malade la dansssssss! Ena malade la dansssssss! Ena malade la dansssssss!”
Yashvinblogs 
Simple. Grow your own veggies & cook your own food. 🙂
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issssh everyone should be very very very very careful when eating out.. whichever the place and however popular it may be.. cleanliness and fresh food is very important.. avoid outdoor food as much as possible.. ppl are earning a living wit…hout caring about hygiene.. just be very careful cuz once the sicknesses catches on you, you have to bear the consequences.. Best thing is – take care of urself and your health and be careful when it’s food.. others will always be the faulty.. but u are consuming.. you should be more aware.. A food tastes bitter, smells stale, looks weird.. leave it..Avoid outside food as much as possible…. it’s your health at risk not others..!!!
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@carrotmadman6:
Lol.. true.. eat home food more often.. it’s for the greater good 😛
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Restaurant Steers ti eter..
quan nu in fini apprecier nu manzer bien..
Nu in al toilet..lerla eurk 😀
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The population is growing aware of the necessity of proper food hygiene but only after outbreaks of poisoning. The authorities have been far too slack in educating vendors on this. At seeing how some vendors handle and present food in the street surely raises eyebrows. It is not surprising that in this particular climate you will have the risk of salmonella infecting food if precautions are not taken. I personally do not trust outdoor food, too risky. As for snack and restaurants a view of the kitchen practices would surely put most of us off from eating there. Hopefully stricter measures and practices will be enforced to change mentalities.
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Bien bizin plante nu ban fruits ek legumes locales dan zardin ek manz saem plis… 😉
pena pesticides, maladies naniE…
live green.. 😉
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There are also many cases which are not known by the media. I’ve had several experiences of my own:
1) found a grilled cockroach in dim sum @ chinese restaurant in china town.
2) found long hair @indian restaurant @caudan.Ordered them to change the dish.The next dish also contained hair.
3)Friend of mine found cockroach in a famous fast food outlet.
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i got a cockroach in DORITOS at college canteen in 2007 and a cockroach was also found in ROUGAILLE at marchand roti at college the same year.
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Dans le pays des fantasmes de nos politichiens (Singapour), every stall is required to prominently display a health certificate grading it from A to D.
Ki-fer pas capaw ici?
Parski fonctionnaire nek konn dire: pena assez staff, pena resources, pena kass, mais konn alle lakaz 15:30. Inspection pou faire ziss lerr manzer (tiens-tiens…), dans zour la-semaine. Voila kott nou bann ball-less politichiens pe amenn nou.
Bon appétit!
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I thought I was safe buying only dhol puries when outdoors cause I’m veg, until I saw that picture with a lizard in the curry.
Gonna bring my own food from home.
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Yashvin bzn mete 1 bouton like!!! surtou pu cki T0rped0 in dir 🙂 personally mo pa eat en dehors so no bad experience bt thnks for the info…
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The problem is also because of the growing popularity of the restaurants… The more popular, the more customers, therefore the staffs have to work much faster… And eventually they become careless since the restaurant has already made its place in the population. They are more concerned about profits nowadays rather than providing good service to the customers. Almost everywhere it’s like that in Mauritius. I guess restaurants do need to have a food inspector employed in their restaurant and make sure the food being cooked and served is “safe”…
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ewwww.. :S
i guess dall pouri’s are safe ❤
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I once had a cigarette in my food.
Mauritius,c’est un plaisir.
@T0rped0–> Dan Maurice ena 1 mentaliT.
—>Apres la mort, la tissan<——-
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that lizard curry picture is sooo…. yuck yuck.. poor soul hueva it was hu found it in their lunch..
fortunately i didn’t experience any “unwanted ingredient/s” in my food during my stay last year..
The amount of fast-food i consumed there, all the kfcs, rotis, dhalpuris.. i guess it won’t be the same next time!!
Outdoor food is a problem in almost every other country.. We as consumer should be more careful with our food. Homemade is best. Its healthy and hygienic – just like we want it. 😉
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@Sun: i don’t think so…i found a “chenille” in Dewa’s Dholpuri one day…
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Yaaaaaak!!!! Of all things a lizard!!!!??? Sh@#T!!!!
I don’t think am gonna eat out that soon 😦 And to be honest we have food out like 5/7!!! Sh@#T!!! Am gonna have to actually COOK!!!!
By d way, my friend was once eating bread and got something in her mouth…taking it out she saw a nail!!! Finger nail!!! eeek!!!
We Mauritians eat at every corner because it is part of our culture…ene ti dal-puri..ene ti halim…boulettes someone? Mine frite? etc…
It’s up to the govnt. to take serious actions…THEY ARE PAID TO DO THAT!!! Serve the country and it’s people :p
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The business of Briyani is flourishing on the streets as from 5pm. The authorities have apparently no control in the selling of such type of food and to impose quality standards – avan chapeau lapaille par eg. zot ti p met white cloth, gloves, ene dimoune tini largent and the other processing ‘2 Ro Zero’ (2 roti avk no pima :).
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Hey dude,..sorry fot that late response!!I was ill(not b’coz of lizard)!!Thanks a lot for raising awareness about this issue!!
To koné sa problem manG laa pa pu aret aster la saa!!Ena 1 resto nuvel france,..comlone,.li assez populaire!!1 mo prof ti ale laba pu manG!!lin gagn cheveux,.manG gaT,.meme moutouk!!li marii degoutant saa!Imagine tw,.to p ggn xtraa faim,.ton ale 1 bon resto mais banla p servi tw manG,.to ggn 1 manG ki to mem pa kpv geT!!Ena fair inspection dans ban resto ou just kan 1 dimoun ggn 1 problem,..lerla to pu trV minister,..media etc pu vini et pu raconte 1 taa zisoire!!2 fois to ggn faim et to en dehors,..to envii mange kitsoz mais to pa konE kot to pu alE,..tenstion to ggn lezard,..concrela,..mousse etccc!!!
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Si ti dimann kari lezar zot ti pu dir: pa geyn sa isi .
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fine gagne problem KFC, mais dimoune kontinier manzer meme la-bas, samem apel morisien. kozer beaucoup apres truv zot meme KFC. kifer zot pa prepare kentucky la kot zot e zot manzer, sa zot pa pu fer. b continier.
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dimoune p blame ministre pu tot problem ki zot gagner. seki li kpv fer li p fer. mais zot ki zot p fer, si zot fine gagne problem dan manzer dehors, mais aret manze dehors do, kuit zot manzer lakaz zot manzer.
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On the defimedia yesterday :
“Dans une boulangerie de Port-Louis – Après du plastique et une paille de fer, un cafard dans un pain”
quelques mois de cela, Vicky explique qu’il avait eu une désagréable surprise. « Je croquais un morceau de pain lorsque j’ai remarqué une paille de fer », narre le jeune homme. Et tout récemment, alors qu’il mordait dans du pain acheté à la même boulangerie, il a trouvé un morceau de plastique dans la mie.
Cependant, Vicky avait choisi de ne pas rapporter le cas aux autorités concernées car il estime que l’erreur est humaine. Mais samedi dernier, lorsque son épouse a découvert le cafard, Vicky s’est dit que c’en était trop. « Accompagné de ma femme, je me suis rendu à la boulangerie pour parler au gérant pour qu’au moins il prenne en considération certains critères, surtout en ce qui concerne l’hygiène. Nous lui avons parlé dans un coin mais il a mal digéré nos propos et nous a même mal parlés », décrit Vicky.
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@Yashvin:
Vicky, j’ai déjà vécu celà : mais moi, je lui ai flanqué son pain à la gueule, et je suis resté devant sa boutique pendant 30 minutes à médire ses produits avec TOUS les clients qui entraient – c’était Pain des Iles de Vacoas. Vous auriez du voir la gueule des gérants!
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si zot trouver ki kot zot manger dehors ena ene probleme hygiene… ena ene zafer apel report. zot ale report dimoun la ministere et banla pou faire le necessaire kuma zot ine faire dans plusieurs cas juska lheure peu importe c ki zot penC. et apres kuma ene dimoun ine dire, zt p dire tout sa alors ki depi primaire tout dimoun dire aret manz dehors, manz manger dan lakaz. deja li plus safe et plus hygienic. donc li coule de source ki zot pas kave expect ki ene manzer ki vane lor chemin ena meme std ki ene manger ki zot cuit dan ene lakaz. par exemple, pou ban ki kone rodrigues dan reduit, zot pas kave trouve drole si zot p manger et ene tas mouches faire zot letour.
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Dernier k encore. Ene ti garçon 8 ans in décédée après ki li in consome ban wantan. Et cc’est so maman ki ti in acheter la viande dans bazar.
Aster ki ministère p trouver ki ban conditions pas bon ditout dans bazar.
Après la mort la tizane
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What about food health inspectors? In the USA the restaurants are required to post their ratings on the window from the inspector. There has to be a way to control quality. Isn’t Mauritius famous for bureaucracy?
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I try to grow most of my vegetables, and cook my own food. If I like something, I’ll try to make it up to I get it right. I knew it wasn’t safe to eat out, but not to this point, it’s absolutely off putting.Â
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Just a little update from me :Â
A colleague got a hair in a “gato arrouille” on Monday and 2 days later, he got another one in a “boulette”.Â
His fate? or was it a sign? lol.
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The authorities have almost no control over all these things. Inspections are done too rarely
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well as for me i got a chenille in my lasagne in a famous sports pub found in caudan. And whats more suprising, the staff did not excuse themselves for this
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365 days a year I don’t leave my house without my lunch box with food made with my own hands for the time I am out. May this serve as a lesson to people to start taking care of their health by eating healthy rather than eating out.
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