The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment confirms that what’s being circulated on social media about the pollution in the UAE waters is not true. Salah Abdullah Al Rayssi, Director of the Sustainability of Marine & Coastal Environments at MoCCaE, reaffirmed that specialized teams regularly monitor water qualities in the UAE through sampling and analysis to ensure that it’s free from any substances that affect the public's health. He also confirmed that external auditing team carried out inspection visits to all fish markets last Thursday to examine the fish and assured the public that there is no harm in consuming local and imported sea food.

Salah Al Rayssi said that UAE has given the food safety issue much attention and has over the past years and strengthened its legislative and institutional frameworks related to food safety, indicating that UAE has developed integrated and effective control systems on food products, both domestic and imported, including the development of product testing laboratories and tightening food safety and control measures on food establishments and workers to ensure the highest level of food safety in the country.  Al Rayssi noted that the food safety rating in the UAE has increased in the last three years to reach 98% in 2016.

He also called on community members not to be swayed by unreliable news or rumors about food safety and to refrain from raising unwarranted concerns without verifying their authenticity from reliable official sources, stressing that the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, as well as the UAE food safety authorities, welcome all public inquiries and respond to them directly.