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Responsibilities:

The Department is responsible for monitoring the safety of food and contact surfaces and providing rapid response to emergencies by taking the necessary measures to protect consumer health.



Tasks:



In normal circumstances, the Department shall:



  • To collect and analyze the results of the monitoring of food contaminants (animal or non-animal origin) and food contact surfaces and disseminate them to the relevant authorities.
  • Continuous monitoring based on inputs from global inspections and accidents, statistics of diseases and cases received by hospitals as a result of foodborne diseases.
  • To develop means of communication to include coordination with the relevant regulatory authorities in order to improve the level of rapid response to complaints and outbreaks of diseases both inside and outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
  • Develop a crisis management strategy to regulate the duties and responsibilities of the following actors in emergencies:
    • Food Sector Departments.
    • The relevant regulatory authorities in the event of crises related to food safety.
  • Cooperation with international regulatory bodies and international organizations on:
    • Exchange of information and data.
    • Typical management style in case of crisis.
  • In emergencies, a crisis management strategy is implemented as follows:
    • Cooperate with the emergency team to lead and coordinate departments to make efforts to mitigate the consequences of the emergency situation.
    • Issuing clear guidelines for the application of mandatory measures to be taken by relevant authorities to ensure the highest levels of safety (tracking, withdrawal or restoration of products).
    • Inform the relevant authorities of the required procedures.
    • Alert consumers of the risks of continuing emergencies.
    • Provide clear consumer guidance to mitigate the effects of crises.
    • Request the intervention of the legal department in case the relevant parties do not comply with the required procedures.
  • After an emergency, management informs senior management of the following:
    • Risks arising from the situation.
    • Effectiveness of the mechanism followed.
    • Develop the mechanism if necessary to avoid errors in dealing with similar situations in the future.