RIYADH — The Ministry of Commerce has shut down two illegal warehouses in Riyadh for repackaging and relabeling expired children's food products, seizing more than 8 tons of spoiled goods prepared for redistribution with forged expiry dates. The warehouses, located in the Aziziyah and Khalidiyah districts in southern Riyadh, were raided by the ministry's inspection teams in coordination with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development and the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA). Among the confiscated products were nuts, legumes, candies, and ground coffee, alongside stickers with falsified expiry dates and rubber stamps used in the fraud scheme. Authorities have detained those responsible and initiated legal action, with all seized items earmarked for destruction. The violators face penalties under the Anti-Commercial Fraud Law, which include up to three years in prison, fines of up to SR1 million, or both, as well as public disclosure of their names and deportation of non-Saudi workers involved. The Ministry reaffirmed its commitment to cracking down on commercial fraud and protecting consumers from deceptive and hazardous practices in the food sector.
