Several cafeterias across the UAE serve a special gravy alongside their machine-grilled rotisserie chicken — but food safety experts warn the sauce could cause food poisoning.
“There are several cafeterias that keep collecting the drippings in a dish at the base of the machine and then serve it as gravy,” said food safety expert Bobby Krishna. “This is basically raw juices of the chicken. This is a food safety risk and can cause food poisoning.”
To drive the message home, Dubai Municipality (DM) is attempting to organise the world’s largest-ever food safety training on how to safely cook rotisserie grilled chicken. The event on November 17 will focus on enhancing the food safety knowledge and skills of chefs and Persons in Charge (PICs) working in restaurants, cafeterias and supermarkets that sell grilled chicken. Delivered in Arabic, English, Malayalam, Urdu and Tagalog, the session will run from 9am to 11am and aims to set a Guinness World Record. All eateries are being encouraged to take part.
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The push comes as the city prepares to host the 20th edition of the Dubai International Food Safety Conference on November 16. Organised by DM, the three-day conference brings together global food safety regulators, industry leaders and experts to discuss emerging risks and best practice across the food chain.
Bobby added that some restaurants choose to serve a basting sauce alongside the grilled chicken. “As long as the sauce is prepared in the kitchen and does not have any raw chicken drippings in it, it is completely safe to use,” he said.
Other errors
He added that there were some other commonly found errors among eateries in the city. One of them was the order in which the chicken is placed inside a machine. “It is important to arrange the chicken properly,” he said. “Sometimes, the establishment will place the rack of raw chicken on the top of the machine, with the grilled one on the bottom of the machine.”
He pointed out this causes liquids from the raw chicken to drip onto the grilled one, posing a food poisoning risk.
According to him, another commonly found mistake was how the chicken was served. “If someone orders a half chicken, some eateries will leave the remaining half at the bottom of the machine, again causing the juices of the raw chicken to drip on it,” he said.
Popularity among customers
Sabeek, from Green City restaurant in Dubai, said that his eatery took great care to ensure that their grilled chicken met food safety standards. “We use fresh spices and the chicken is marinated in sanitised pots,” he said. “Inside the grill, we always maintain a temperature of 74°C. Once cooked, the chicken is kept in a hot cabin at the temperature of 63°C or above. The cooked and raw chicken are kept separate to avoid cross contamination.” He added that the restaurant also doesn’t serve a gravy, instead opting to pair their chicken with garlic sauce.
According to Salim, manager of Qusais-based Tea Junction restaurant, the gravy at their restaurant is extremely popular among its clientele. “It adds a good flavour to the grilled chicken and our customers love it,” he said. “It is basically a basting sauce that we create with spices to pour over the chicken. Some eateries keep the basting sauce under the grilled chicken in the machine without covering it. That is a food safety risk. We prefer to keep it outside the machine to keep it safe.”
Source: Khaleej Times