Watch out for 'expired' mineral water bottles in Oman

Energy Monday 19/February/2018 21:40 PM
By: Times News Service
Watch out for 'expired' mineral water bottles in Oman

Muscat: Nearly 50,000 bottles of mineral water were destroyed by the Ibra Municipality, the authority has announced on Twitter.
The municipality of Ibra in North Al Sharqiyah destroyed 48,600 bottles of expired mineral water as part of a surprise inspection campaign carried out by the municipality on various food establishments.
“Such campaigns ensure that commercial establishments comply with health and professional requirements in order to maintain the health and safety of consumers,” the agency said in a statement.
Campaigns to ensure safe drinking water is provided to residents and citizens in Oman are regularly organised by authorities in the Sultanate. Last year, Oman’s Public Authority for Consumer Protection (PACP) found bottles packed and stored in an unhealthy condition in the Al Dakhiliyah Governorate.
“The Department of Consumer Protection in Al Dakhiliyah Governorate recently destroyed, in cooperation with the Municipality of Izki, a quantity of bottled mineral water containers, because they did not comply with the standard specifications,” a spokesman had said.
“Drinking water bottle boxes were found packed and stored in unhealthy storage conditions, and samples were taken for examination. The results of the examination by the Food Control Laboratory of the Directorate General of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources in Al Dhakhiliyah showed that the product did not conform to the reference standard, and there was a change in taste and smell due to storage conditions,” he said.
“The Public Authority for Consumer Protection calls upon all merchants and suppliers to abide by the provisions of the Consumer Protection Law and its executive regulations to avoid legal accountability,” he added.
Also, the Muscat Municipality has previously conducted campaigns targeted at residents to encourage safe water drinking practices. One particular initiative saw the municipality asking people to not drink from bottles left out in the sun.
“For your health, avoid keeping and storing drinking water under the sun,” the authority had previously tweeted.