المملكة: “Food and Drug” stopped production lines and closed a violating food factory

The Food and Drug General Authority has announced the suspension of a number of production lines in food facilities, and the closure of one of the factories specialized in the production of frozen foods ready to serve, with the seizure of its full products, after monitoring severe violations that directly affect the safety of the consumer.
These procedures come within the framework of the proactive control program implemented by the authority to verify the commitment of food establishments to the approved technical regulations, and to reduce the potential food poisoning cases.
Violations were monitored during inspection rounds carried out last month, which included one of the factories producing pickles and ready -made foods, as the rounds revealed the low cleaning requirements and the adoption of unhealthy operational practices, in addition to the weak performance of the Safety Officer, which created an environment for the growth of dangerous pathogenic microbes, such as: Listeria monocytogenes, and Escherichia coli, The salmonella SPP, known for causing severe food poisoning.

Multiple violations

Although the facility is granted a deadline for correcting violations based on Article (12) of the Food System issued by Royal Decree No. (M/38) and the date of 4/28/1440 AH, it did not abide by the correction, which necessitated a decision to stop all production lines and start the legal procedures against them.
Multiple violations were also monitored in another facility specializing in the production of ready -made poultry products, which were the operation of workers without valid practical licenses, the absence of a HACCP Certificate, the storage of expired food without discrimination, the use of unpleasant equipment and the appearance of rust on the surfaces of the food. The fines were imposed on the facility according to Article (20) of the system’s executive regulations, in addition to partially suspending its activities until its conditions are corrected.
In the same context, the Authority stopped 11 production line in factories that produce dairy derivatives and frozen pastries, after laboratory analyzes showed the presence of polluted microbes such as Clostridium Perfringens, which is one of the factors associated with the outbreaks of food poisoning.

Consumer health protection

“Food and Drug” stipulated that the violating facilities prepare chronic corrective plans not exceeding 30 days, including improving quality systems, training workers, and replacing non -conforming equipment, while implementing subsequent inspection visits to follow up the commitment.
The authority confirmed that these procedures start from a strict preventive approach to protect consumer health, based on the food system and its executive regulations, which allow the authority to take decisions that reach the suspension of the activity, and the imposition of financial fines amounting to 10 million riyals, or referring to the judicial authorities.
“Food and Drug” stressed the importance of the role of consumers in reporting any suspected facilities through the 19999 Unified Communication Center, noting that food safety is a societal responsibility that starts from the production environment and ends only at the consumer table.