To score Grade A, eateries must fulfill the main conditions which includes the dress code. — Bernama pic

KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 — The Kota Baru Islamic City Municipal Council will now include observation of Islamic dress codes when evaluating food outlets under its purview.

According to The Star newspaper today, the local authority said any failure by management and staff to cover their “aurat” or body parts considered intimate in Islam would prevent the outlets from receiving the highest “A” grade.

This was on top of standard criteria such as hygienic food preparations and handling as well as cleanliness of the premise.

“To score Grade A, the eateries must fulfill the main conditions which includes the dress code,” council president Ahmad Robert Abdul Rahman during a joint operation with district health office to check cleanliness of food premises here on Monday.

Ahmad Robert said the council was working on grading 3,018 licensed food outlets in the city.

Over the last two weeks, the council inspected 239 premises and gave Grade A (very clean) to 22 premises, Grade B (clean) to 107 premises and Grade C (less clean) to 110 outlets.