SOLUTIONS AT HAND: Rami Jebai, the Deputy Country Manager of Boecker, speaks with Community.  

By Umer Nangiana

Microorganisms like bacteria, virus, fungus and yeasts are found all around us. Some of them carry the most threatening diseases known to mankind and they can be contracted from anything that human beings come in contact with, most alarmingly, food.
The best defence is to eliminate them and their habitat. Achieving complete protection, however, can be tricky. A regional food security and pest control company has come up with a solution that kills germs within 30 seconds of the application and provides a long-lasting protection against harmful microorganisms.
Microbecs, an on-site service designed by Boecker Public Health, safely and effectively eliminates all microorganisms and provides a long-term sanitised environment for working and living. It can be applied to protect schools, kindergartens, child care centres, as well as your home, kitchen and other common areas from all kinds of germs.
“It is part of the disinfection process. We can provide any food production area such as a restaurant or a factory with an infection control programme with specialised materials; it is called microbe control system or Microbecs. It will eliminate all kinds of germs, bacteria, viruses, algae, fungi in 30 seconds,” Rami Jebai, the Deputy Country Manager of Boecker, tells Community at the company’s stall at Hospitality Qatar 2015.
“Technically it will react with the membrane of the bacteria and will cause the bacteria to explode. When we use Microbecs in nurseries, children get around 50% less illness compared to other nurseries,” says the Boecker manager.
It can be applied by spraying, by swabbing and by misting which emits ultra-low volume droplets in the air and disinfect surfaces, especially hard-to-reach surfaces. This infection control programme is for every kind of industry or an outlet, an organisation such as schools or kindergarten, says Jebai.
The frequency of the programme for treatments differs according to the needs. A kitchen, for example, requires more treatment than other industries.
“For a factory, we also have the CIP (cleaning in place) which cleans the machines in place by putting Microbecs inside the machine. It also eliminates any bad odour caused by the bacteria during the fermentation of any material,” claims the deputy country manager of the company.
Microbecs is operational in all branches of the company in the region and, in Qatar, they have been developing it for two years. The mega launch will be this year, says Jebai.
In Qatar, they are present since 2007. When it comes to clients, Boecker says it represents around 80% of the A-Class clients.
Founded in 1994, Boecker is a regional company present in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan and other regions. It specialises in pest control, food safety training and consultancy, disinfection and selling of tools such as safety and pest control tools. And these are all hazard compliant and suitable for food industry. “All food handlers should know what is safe and what is not safe. They should know exactly how to handle food. All food handlers should at least have the level-2 hygiene training. So that they know what is the risk temperature where bacteria flourish.
All details are there within in our training courses which are essential for all food safety handlers,” says Jebai.
“When I say food handlers, it is not only the cooks but also the drivers who transport food from one place to another. The temperature, the flow of the cooking process, the packaging and receiving area, all these should be put within a frame we call the QPA that we created and is accredited internationally,” he adds. It is backed by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health in England.
There is a specialised programme for each and every outlet, explains the manager. For example, the food safety practices in a sushi restaurant are different from a grill, a burger or an Italian restaurant or a bakery.
“Our food safety consultant will inspect the kitchen and flow of cooking and will accordingly design the programme in line with what the manager of the place wants.  We can design a programme to make all practices and food safe,” explains Jebai.
Then if the outlet follows the regulations, they get a certificate displayed in their shop.
Jebai says they carry out their studies in the University of West Virginia and have a laboratory in Lebanon where they develop Microbecs and other disinfection systems. However, the food safety component of the company is managed from Dubai.
Part of their job is raising awareness about food safety practices in the region. In Qatar, he says there are very good safety measures taken by food safety department in the municipality.
“We are well established here in Qatar and everybody knows who to turn to when they want food safety practices implemented in their outlets,” adds Jebai.
With Qatar developing at fast pace, the Boecker deputy country manager hopes to get hold of more projects in future.