In the images shared by the PSP, it is possible to see the condition of food products “unfit for public consumption”, as well as the conditions in which 35 foreign citizens, workers at the catering establishment, lived.
The Metropolitan Command of the PSP of Lisbon, through the Sintra Police Division, informs that as part of a joint operation with several authorities ofdetected “serious sanitary, labor and habitability irregularities” in a restaurant establishment in Cacém, municipality of Sintra.
The operation, carried out on March 5, identified “high quantities of foodstuffsstored in poor packaging conditions, namely perishable products stored in unsuitable containers, food in direct contact with the floor and lack of separation between raw and prepared products”.
Furthermore, continues the PSP, “we observed, food products kept at inadequate temperatures, with overcrowded refrigeration equipment and no temperature control, as well as frozen foods, without traceability and subject to defrosting processes without complying with applicable health rules”.
“In several preparation and cooking areas, serious deficiencies in hygiene conditions were also observed, namely degraded work surfaces, utensils without adequate hygiene, lack of cleaning plans and the presence of food waste accumulated in handling areas”, reads the statement.
The “upper floors” of the food establishment served as “improvised accommodation” and “support for commercial activity”. The PSP reports that 35 foreign citizens, workers at the establishment, live in them, but without the “minimum conditions of habitability, hygiene and health”.
In addition to “overcrowding situations”, “improvised compartments, lack of adequate ventilation, poor sanitary conditions and lack of any type of licensing for housing use”.
Given the facts, and “Given the seriousness of the irregularities detected, the establishment’s activity was immediately suspended, with approximately 1826.00 kg of food products considered unfit for public consumption being seized.”.
“(…) two citizens were also notified to voluntarily leave the national territory, due to an irregular situation in the national territory, and criminal proceedings and several infraction notices for infractions in the labor domain were also raised, the processing of which will follow the applicable legal procedures”
In addition to the PSP, the Public Health Authority, the Authority for Working Conditions (ACT), the Municipal Veterinary Authority, Municipal Inspection, Municipal Social Action, the Municipal Police and the Judiciary Police participated in this inspection operation.
