Saudi Arabia is set to make ‘food handler cards' mandatory for food service workers employed in various food-related businesses in the country. Solaiman H. Al-Buthi, General Manager of the Environmental Health Department in Riyadh Municipality, said food service workers in the Kingdom will soon be required to obtain a food handler card from the institutes proposed by the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs. He said the ministry has already issued instructions to Riyadh Municipality to set up institutes for the purpose. “The proposed institutes, responsible for issuing food handler cards will be established early next year in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. This will be the first phase of the program to ensure public food safety in the Kingdom,” said Al-Buthi. He said all food service workers employed in various outlets including hotels, restaurants, cafeterias, branded food chains and franchises among others will be required to have mandatory food handler cards from the proposed institutes. There are around 13,000 food outlets including hotels, restaurants, bakeries, ethnic restaurants, and catering companies that employ thousands of workers in Riyadh alone, he said. Due to the extreme climatic conditions, a slight variation in food storage and unhygienic handling can spoil food. This is the reason public food safety has become an issue that requires immediate attention, he said The Riyadh Municipality, Al-Buthi said, issues about 700 health certificates to food service workers on a daily basis. However, the food handler card will be different from health certificates issued by municipalities in the Kingdom. The food handler card will be issued only to those workers who pass the specially designed test conducted by the proposed institutes, he said. The test will evaluate the food service workers' knowledge of basic food handling requirements such as storage, the right temperature, cleanliness, personal hygiene during food preparation and sterilization techniques, he said. Al-Buthi said food inspectors have discovered a lack of personal hygiene among food handlers working in restaurants and other similar outlets who often fail to wash their hands after using the bathroom and are then engaged in food preparation which can lead to food poisoning. Any worker failing the test will have to undergo a week's training at the institute on basic food handling techniques and reappear for the test to obtain the food handler card, he said. “A food handler card is a mandatory requirement for food service workers just as a driver's license is to motorists,” he said. The proposed institutes will be a public-private sector joint enterprise similar to the Dallah Driving School, he said. The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, he added, will allocate land for those bidders from the private sector who want to set up the proposed institutes in Riyadh and other cities.
