Health inspectors laid siege to hawkers in Vittoriosa last month, booking six for operating without proper hand washing and equipment cleaning facilities, according to figures released by the Environmental Health Directorate yesterday.

Another hawker was booked at the Mosta open market for several deficiencies, including exposing food to risk of contamination, no adequate washing facilities, improper storage temperature and lack of food hygiene training.

As hungry eyes turn to turkeys at this time of year, rabbits had further reasons to be cheerful in Tarxien as a food operator in the village was booked for their illegal slaughter and for operating in a premises not in compliance with its licence, in unhygienic conditions and with risk of contamination by not keeping cheeselets at temperatures below 8°C.

A food operator in St Julian’s was booked for possessing expired foodstuffs, failing to provide traceability and keeping poultry products not at temperatures below 8oC; another operator in Pietà was booked for selling frozen poultry products as fresh, while a butcher in Marsa was caught exposing food to contamination risks.

In Ħamrun, there was a catalogue of woe for the food operator booked for operating in a premises without being registered, failing to provide food hygiene training, exposing food to risk of contamination and other structural deficiencies, and for failing to adhere to the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point system.

Health inspectors were busy destroying 479kg of different foodstuffs last month, ranging from 371kg of poultry products with lapsed durability date, improper temperature and lack of traceability, to 62kg of improperly labelled pastry products, 12kg of dairy products following a court order and 7kg of honey due to “authenticity issues”.

A total of 619 improvement notices were issued to food business operators last month, informing them about deficiencies noted in their establishments and giving them specific deadlines by which to remedy the problems.

Also last month, 469 complaints were lodged with the directorate. Eighty-five of these were related to food, with the most common concerning improper labelling of food, unhygienic premises, improper storage of food and personal malpractices.

Another 384 complaints were environmental health related, with the most common concerning the presence of pests, infiltrations, the keeping animals in unhygienic conditions and accumulations of refuse.

The public can contact the Health Inspectorate Services by calling 2133 7333, or e-mailing complaints.ph@gov.mt.