Ready meals and food supplied by a national catering company have been removed from supermarket shelves after a razor blade was found in a carton of biryani.
An office worker was about to take a mouthful of rice when he noticed the sharp metal object.
The meal was purchased from the Allday minimart in the Dubai Design District on Thursday, September 20.
Since then, Allday has conducted an investigation and removed all food supplied by the Dubai-based Big Ben catering company from sale in its 64 stores nationwide.
“I opened the top and took a mouthful of the food and it was fine at first,” said Tohir Jon, 24, an assistant manager in e-commerce from Tajikistan.
“I took a second scoop and noticed something glistening, buried in the food.
“I thought it was a leaf or something. I couldn’t believe it was a razor blade. I was shocked.
“I caught it just in time, but I had already tried the food, so it was quite upsetting.
"I was so shocked, I laughed to myself. I couldn’t believe what was happening.
“I showed my colleague who was sat next to me, and then called the police. They said to call Dubai Municipality.”
Mr Jon took a photo into the supermarket to show what he had found. Staff there said they would immediately remove all similar items from sale.
“I called the catering company, Big Ben, who wanted to resolve the situation without me making a complaint,” he said.
“They said it was only something small and to not make a big deal out of it.
“I told them I was very close to putting it in my mouth or even swallowing it.
"It could have killed me, so this was not something small.”
The razor blade, about five centimetres in length is the kind often used in barber shops, or to cut open boxes of rice.
Allday management was quick to respond, removing all other Big Ben products from its shelves.
No other food is reported to have been contaminated.
“We are no longer dealing with Big Ben catering,” said Mohammed Thavath, general manager of human resources and logistics at Allday.
“They have been supplying food for the past two years or so, and their produce has been very popular up to now.
“They have said there is no chance of a razor blade entering the food in the production chain, and all CCTV footage has been checked, offering no clues as to how it could have happened.
“The company is suspecting foul play, but we have to be cautious and have since stopped taking any stock from them.
“We do not want to compromise our own quality and service, we must protect our customers.”
___________________
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___________________
There are 60 branches of Allday supermarkets in Dubai, and four more in Abu Dhabi.
Although the incident appears to be an isolated case, Dubai Municipality would not confirm if it was investigating the incident or following up with consumer recommendations.
The department did not respond to a request for comment.
Although cases of contaminated food in the UAE are rare, imported frozen vegetables, baby milk, eggs and meat have all been withdrawn from sale in the past year due to health concerns.
In Australia, there have been more than 100 reports of needles hidden in fruit in the past month, with further cases reported in Singapore and New Zealand.
The Australian government has responded by increasing its maximum prison sentence for people found deliberately contaminating food.
“There is a routine inspection that has been completed by Dubai Municipality, and we always check on the security, conditions and standards of our suppliers,” Mr Thavath said.
“Big Ben has been supplying 40 to 45 of our stores, so losing this business will be a big blow to them. It is unfortunate but we have had to take this step.”
Big Ben catering did not respond to a request for comment.
Company%20Profile
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Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
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Disclaimer
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Writers: Walter Mosley
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A cryptocurrency primer for beginners
Cryptocurrency Investing for Dummies – by Kiana Danial
There are several primers for investing in cryptocurrencies available online, including e-books written by people whose credentials fall apart on the second page of your preferred search engine.
Ms Danial is a finance coach and former currency analyst who writes for Nasdaq. Her broad-strokes primer (2019) breaks down investing in cryptocurrency into baby steps, while explaining the terms and technologies involved.
Although cryptocurrencies are a fast evolving world, this book offers a good insight into the game as well as providing some basic tips, strategies and warning signs.
Begin your cryptocurrency journey here.
Available at Magrudy’s , Dh104
Lowest Test scores
26 - New Zealand v England at Auckland, March 1955
30 - South Africa v England at Port Elizabeth, Feb 1896
30 - South Africa v England at Birmingham, June 1924
35 - South Africa v England at Cape Town, April 1899
36 - South Africa v Australia at Melbourne, Feb. 1932
36 - Australia v England at Birmingham, May 1902
36 - India v Australia at Adelaide, Dec. 2020
38 - Ireland v England at Lord's, July 2019
42 - New Zealand v Australia in Wellington, March 1946
42 - Australia v England in Sydney, Feb. 1888
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Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
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Bombshell
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Stars: Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie
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2pm: Maiden Dh 60,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
2.30pm: Handicap Dh 76,000 (D) 1,400m
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4pm: Maiden Dh 60,000 (D) 1,000m
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Overall head-to-head
Federer 6-1 Cilic
Head-to-head at Wimbledon
Federer 1-0 Cilic
Grand Slams titles
Federer 18-1 Cilic
Best Wimbledon performance
Federer: Winner (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012)
Cilic: Final (2017*)
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
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Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
The%20specs
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Top 10 in the F1 drivers' standings
1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 202 points
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3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes-GP 169
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Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
WISH
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TOP%2010%20MOST%20POLLUTED%20CITIES
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Tips for entertaining with ease
· Set the table the night before. It’s a small job but it will make you feel more organised once done.
· As the host, your mood sets the tone. If people arrive to find you red-faced and harried, they’re not going to relax until you do. Take a deep breath and try to exude calm energy.
· Guests tend to turn up thirsty. Fill a big jug with iced water and lemon or lime slices and encourage people to help themselves.
· Have some background music on to help create a bit of ambience and fill any initial lulls in conversations.
· The meal certainly doesn’t need to be ready the moment your guests step through the door, but if there’s a nibble or two that can be passed around it will ward off hunger pangs and buy you a bit more time in the kitchen.
· You absolutely don’t have to make every element of the brunch from scratch. Take inspiration from our ideas for ready-made extras and by all means pick up a store-bought dessert.
