3,700 kilogrammes of fig paste were destroyed due to risk of contamination, the Department for Environmental Health said in a report today. It said it also destroyed 46 kilogrammes of meat, 10 kilogrammes cheese, 80 kilogrammes date cakes, 54 litres bottled water, and more than 60 kilogrammes of various other foodstuffs.

Inspectors during January issued 448 improvement notices to food business operators after unannounced inspections pointing out deficiencies and demanding remedial action.

Ten contraventions were issued. Two food business operators were found to have failed with previous undertakings to rectify noted deficiencies. Another operator was found to have foodstuffs with tampered labelling and spoiled food products in a delicatessen counter.

Another was caught selling frozen poultry for fresh.

The department said that an operator was found to lack a food handlers' licence.

Two were issued with contravention notices for carrying out a business under unhygienic conditions and another two had defective drains.

Two emergency control orders were issued to stop operators producing food in premises which were not licensed and did not have proper hygienic conditions.

Three premises were closed down:

An unlicensed premises manufacturing ice-cream at 20, Triq in-Narcis, San Gwann; An unlicensed confectionery operating from a garage in unsanitary conditions at Triq is-Snajja, Msida; and, a restaurant at 112, The Strand, Gzira because of unhygienic conditions and structural deficiencies.

In January, 343 complaints relating to environmental health issues and 55 to food safety issues were lodged with the Health Inspectorate.

The most common type of environmental health related complaint was regarding pest infestation (93), followed by infiltration of water (73), drainage overflow (29) and accumulation of refuse (25).

The most common complaints regarding food safety were alleged unfit food and unhygienic premises with 10 complaints each, followed by food labelling with eight complaints.