Food Safety Drive Ahead Of Ramadan In Makkah

The Makkah Municipality has intensified inspection campaigns, including a food safety drive ahead of Ramadan in Makkah, to ensure public health and safety during the holy month. This initiative encompasses rigorous checks on food establishments, alongside enhancing services such as public parking lots at the entrance of the holy city, cleaning of the city’s streets, and maintaining the sanitation of the seasonal public toilets. Additionally, the opening of a crisis management center to deal with emergencies further underscores the municipality’s comprehensive approach to safeguarding residents and visitors.

Additional resources have been mobilized to maintain a strict vigil on food outlets, shops, and roadside vendors selling traditional fried delicacies to ensure they comply with health and hygiene regulations. Osama Al-Zaitoony of Makkah Municipality said that the authorities are fully prepared to deal with any violations affecting public health.

He said that the municipality would step up its inspections of supermarkets, food outlets, and shops as well as restaurants and cafeterias to ensure that health, safety, and hygiene standards were being met at all times. “Surprise inspections will be carried out by food inspectors as part of an intensified Ramadan program, to ensure sellers abide by health rules during the fasting month,” Zaitoony said.

He said that because fried food was frequently consumed during Ramadan, the section would focus on the quality of oil used to fry food and to make sure that health and hygiene rules were being adhered to in food storage and preparation areas.

Zaitoony said that the teams were also ensuring that food is cooked and stored at the right temperatures, to avoid the risk of spoiling or causing food poisoning.

“Since Ramadan is in the summer this year, the exceptionally high temperatures and increased humidity make the food more vulnerable to spoiling if not cooked or stored properly,” he said.

The municipality confirmed that it has fully equipped abattoirs and related facilities to receive any number of animals to be slaughtered and the Ministry of Agriculture is being consulted on the state of the animals’ condition.

Al-Zaitoony also said that the municipality has mobilized 8,500 workers in addition to its regular workforce to clean the streets of the holy city during Ramadan. A special cleanliness action plan has been prepared for central Makkah where the Grand Mosque is located. 

Forty-five special compressors will be placed around the Grand Mosque area, as part of the food safety drive ahead of Ramadan in Makkah, to efficiently compress waste, acknowledging the difficulty in the movement of garbage collection trucks in the densely populated area during the holy month. Additionally, to ensure a hygienic and safe environment, 350 pest control spray teams will be deployed across the city to eradicate mosquitoes and other insects, enhancing public health measures in preparation for Ramadan, he added.