EP food stores fined for safety violations guidelines

The Ras Tanura branch of the Eastern Province Municipality issued a show-cause notices to 38 food stores last week for violating safety guidelines. The municipality also imposed penalties on several other food outlets.
Muhammad Al-Sufaian, spokesman for the Eastern Province Municipality, said safety inspectors at the municipality carried out inspections at 320 stores dealing in foodstuff. The outlets found to have violated local regulations mst pay SR 40,000 in fines.
The spokesman said over the past month the municipality has issued 12 licenses, renewed 34, canceled four, and completed four waiver procedures.
The municipality takes a very strict view of the safety standards and those outlets not following the guidelines are heavily penalized, and in many cases their licenses are canceled, the spokesman said.
The municipality has made it compulsory for restaurants to have a transparent kitchen. In the past, kitchens in most of the restaurants used hidden from customers’ view. Now the restaurants must ensure that customers can actually see from the main counter the activity in the kitchen. This is to ensure that hotels adhere to standards of hygiene.