By Badea Abu Al-Naja
Okaz/Saudi Gazette
MAKKAH — Municipal inspectors shut down 37 stores in Makkah for multiple violations.
Mansour Balubaid, environmental health director at Makkah Municipality, said the municipality organized an inspection campaign to ensure that all organizations followed hygiene regulations.
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Health inspectors take food samples from eateries in Makkah.[/caption]
"The municipality held the inspection campaign in preparation for Ramadan. The campaign covered kitchens, restaurants, shopping centers, laundries, barbershops and bakeries. It resulted in the arrest of a number of workers without a health license," said Balubaid.
Makkah Municipality Food Products Committees Head Bandar Jowharji said the municipality has been organizing inspection campaigns throughout the month in preparation for Ramadan.
"The municipality visited a total of 162 stores and shut down 37 stores. The municipality inspected 412 workers and found that 37 of them did not hold health certificates. The municipality also seized 2,459 kg of rotten food products. Some of these products were stored incorrectly and others came from unknown sources," said Jowharji. He said the municipality took 555 samples and tested them in the municipality's laboratory and 28 of the samples tested positive for bacteria contamination.
