المملكة: Periodic inspection and banning of jewelry… new health requirements for food establishment workers

The Food and Drug Authority presented the technical regulations for health conditions in food establishments and their workers, through the “Estalaa” platform, especially the requirements for storing and transporting locally manufactured and imported foods.
The authority has set general requirements that include obtaining a license, taking the necessary health measures for food safety, following healthy practices, and ensuring the production of safe food throughout the food chain.
The requirements also include monitoring food and its suitability for consumption using a scientifically based preventive approach, and ensuring that food is produced and handled in healthy conditions that prevent risks and contaminants.

Ensuring food safety

The Authority stressed that the establishment must have sufficient information about the food product, its components, sources of its components, and its characteristics such as water activity, pH, alkalinity, microorganisms expected to grow or be present in the food product, the shelf life of the food product, packaging containers, conditions affecting the food product, and potential risks of the product and its packaging or its use and other factors and document this information.
The establishment must have monitoring and control programs for the food products it manufactures at all stages of the food chain, and the application of monitoring and control programs must be subject to monitoring, corrective measures, verification and documentation in a manner commensurate with the nature of the food product.
It emphasized effective communication at all stages of the food chain between all parties inside and outside the facility, including suppliers, customers, consumers, and with the competent authorities, to ensure food safety and suitability across the entire food chain.
The administration committed to food safety and that managers and supervisors must have sufficient knowledge of the principles and practices that guarantee food safety, the production and handling of safe foods, enhance awareness of the importance of food health among all workers, prepare procedures and records for the food safety system and provide sufficient resources to ensure the effective performance of the food safety system, and prepare procedures. To deal with customer complaints, deal with them, resolve them and avoid them, and ensure appropriate training, supervision and guidance of workers.

Track products

The regulation stipulates the tracking of food products, so that the establishment is able to track food products during the stages of the food chain, from raw materials, storage, manufacturing, packaging, shipping, transportation, and all stages of food manufacturing, and to provide the competent authorities with any information they request.
It required providing a record of information regarding suppliers and the food supplied from them – one step back – that includes the name of the supplier, his address, the date of receipt, the nature of the products received, their transportation and storage data, and any other information that the competent authority deems necessary, as well as a record of information regarding customers and the food supplied to them, and information about the food in circulation, including the name. The food, its brand, the product identification number (barcode), the size and weight of the product, the date of production and expiration, and the batch number.
It stressed that records and tracking information should be kept for a period of no less than 180 days after the expiration of the food product’s expiration date and made available upon request.
The food facility is required to take the necessary measures to withdraw the food as soon as it learns or suspects that the food does not comply with the conditions and requirements. The facility must have effective procedures and measures that ensure dealing with any risks threatening food safety and enable it to withdraw any food from the market or its packaging materials, and inform the authorities. Immediately responsible for all data and information about the food to be recalled.

The regulations stipulate the correct requirements during the manufacture or preparation of foodstuffs, so that the manufacturing procedures and methods include: the composition of the food product, ingredients and their proportions, heat treatment, treatment methods for preserving the food product, storage temperature, packaging materials, pH, water activity, etc. The information must be documented, written, and verified, and its records must be kept for a period exceeding the shelf life of the food product.
It stipulates that the procedures and methods for manufacturing and handling the food product include practices, procedures, and treatment that ensure the prevention of the growth of disease-causing microorganisms, their spores and toxins, other pollutants, the risks of cross-contamination, and any risks that pose a threat to food safety through the food chain and up to consumption.

Employee requirements

Establishments were obligated to avoid cross-contamination during the manufacturing process, prohibit the presence of chemicals such as cleaning, maintenance or other materials in manufacturing areas to avoid chemical contamination, and implement procedures to prevent contact or transmission between foods containing allergens and other foods and to separate them physically or temporally.
Regarding the requirements for “working” food handlers, the regulations required that the “working” food handler must be medically fit and obtain a health certificate from the approved authorities, and that a medical examination of the workers be conducted periodically thereafter, at a rate of once a year or more as needed, and after returning from abroad to ensure They are medically sound and disease-free.

The regulations clarified personal hygiene requirements, such as washing hands constantly and following an effective hand-washing mechanism, and that food handlers (workers) wear protective masks over the mouth and nose, hair covers, hats, ties, and covering the beard in a way that prevents hair from falling on the food to protect the food from contamination.
The nails should be short and clean, and they should wash their hands with water and soap or disinfectant before starting work and after leaving the work area. They should not be allowed to wear jewelry to avoid contact with food products, and they should wear clean uniforms, using sound and clean gloves made of an impermeable, food-grade material. They should also be provided with covers. Clean head, cover beard, and do not hang any clothes in any manufacturing, storage, or transportation rooms.
It prohibited workers from eating, drinking, blowing noses, chewing gum, and using tobacco of all kinds in any form during the manufacturing, handling, and packaging processes and in places of storage, transportation, and handling of food, or for the worker to put his fingers in his eyes, ears, or head, and not to cough or sneeze near any food, or to Sleeps in workplaces, food processing areas, or food stores.
She stressed not to carry personal belongings and wear them, including, but not limited to: jewelry, watches, nails, eyelashes, etc.