Saudi Arabia: Kitchen facilities banned from using knives with wooden handles

Cairo: Central kitchens serving restaurants and households in Saudi Arabia are barred from using wooden boards or knives with wooden handles to cut meat, poultry and fish, according to regulations proposed by the kingdom's Ministry of Municipalities.

Instead, these tools are to be replaced with boards and knives with handles made of food-safe materials such as plastic for easy cleaning.

The draft also stipulates that an approved area be designated for food preparation and restricted to food handling only.

This area must be visible to service recipients and separated by transparent glass with the possibility of using cameras and screens, reported the Saudi newspaper Okaz.

The central kitchen must also include a designated area for handling uncooked food. It must be designed in a way that ensures food operations proceed in one direction only, from receiving it to storing it, then preparing and cooking it, and ending with packaging, serving or distributing it in order to curb the likelihood of contamination.

In addition, the draft prohibits the reuse of food previously served or sold, and obligates restaurants and kitchens to contract with one of the licensed food preservation groups to redistribute the surplus food to avoid its waste.

The kingdom recently tightened food safety rules.

Food facilities operating in the kingdom can face a fine of SR2,000 if they have cats or dogs inside them according to an official proposal aimed to toughen penalties against violators.

The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) has also proposed imposing a fine of up to SR50,000 for any shop or facility that practises any food activity without obtaining a municipal licence, with the penalty to be doubled in the case of a repeat violation.

The proposals are part of a draft law authored by SDFA pertaining to the penalties imposed for food-related violations with the aim of amending the financial fines to be proportionate to the size of the violations and their impact as part of efforts to ascertain food safety.