PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – The Food safety division of Inspectorate VSA has noted an increasing amount of complaints about food safety violations in the media. The food safety division wants to notify the public that inspections are continuously being done at all food establishments, bars, and roadside eateries on the Dutch side of the island. The inspectorate inspects all food establishments before an operational license is issued. All establishments have received instructions to rectify the violations within a short period of time (24 hours -7 days) in order to maintain operational status Some of the major supermarkets on the island have been inspected and the division instructed them to make certain improvements, discard items and make the necessary corrections. Follow-up inspections have concluded that all or most of the violations that were found have been corrected.
Establishments are urged to use safe food practices when preparing, handling and storing foods that are for human consumption. All persons serving food in the industry must have their food handler’s certificates, all permits must be readily available for the inspector’s viewing.
The Inspectorate has instructed all food establishments to have a Hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) system in place.
Which is a systematic preventive approach to food safety from biological, chemical and physical hazards that can cause the food product to be unsafe. A HACCP plan establishes measures to reduce these risks to a safe level.
The food safety division will also be employing more tactics to engage the community that it serves, creating more awareness by releasing more information, to get the public involved and informed about food safety. Controls are done in a more rigorous manner, inspectors will be stricter in their enforcement of the law, and the
division will be visiting establishments more frequently to ensure compliance. The Inspectorate is always in contact with the FDA/USDA/ FSIS when it comes to recalls and questionable food products
from the United States.
The Inspectorate is an enforcement entity; but still need the assistance of the public to be able to do our tasks more effectively. If you find any product in a supermarket, restaurant or bar that is unfit for human consumption. The Inspectorate ask that you please file a complaint instead of posting on social media that can create confusion. When an official complaint is filed, an investigation will be launched. Some of the images and videos that are posted on social media are a hoax. Sometimes this is done on purpose to harm a certain person or entity. Please take pictures and/or videos as evidence for your complaint. An official complaint can be filed at our department located on the second floor of the Vineyard Building; call us at 721-520-2936 or send us an e-mail inspectoratevsa.sxm@gmail.com.
Together more can be done.
