Food

SFDA Announcement concerning the import requirements for food contact packing and packaging materials

Publication Date
Applying Date	2010-03-29

Question

What is the purpose of registering external facilities?

Answer

To be eligible to export to KSA, the aim of controlling the entire food chain from the country of origin to Saudi Arabia in coordination with the competent authorities in the exporting countries based on the approved mechanisms where the factories are approved and published on the SFDA’s website.

Question

Are all external facilities required to register all the products they manufacture?

Answer

Yes it is

Question

Are all the external facilities exporting to the Kingdom required to be registered?

Answer

Yes, it is mandatory

Question

What are the requirements for food labeling?

Answer

The following technical regulations are related to food labeling: SFDA.FD/GSO 9 “Labeling of prepackaged food stuffs”. SFDA.FD/GSO 2233 “Requirements of nutritional labeling” SFDA.FD 2333 “Requirements for Health and Nutrition Claims”

Question

What is the approval number?

Answer

It is an accreditation number given by the external control authority as a registered accreditation number that is published on the SFDA’s website

Question

How is the disease spread?

Answer

AI is primarily spread by direct contact between healthy birds and infected birds, and through indirect contact with contaminated equipment and materials. The virus is excreted through the feces of infected birds and through secretions from the nose, mouth and eyes. Contact with infected fecal material is the most common of bird-to-bird transmission. Wild ducks often introduce low pathogencicity into domestic flocks raised on range or in open flight pens through fecal contamination. Within a poultry house, transfer of the HPAI virus between birds can also occur via airborne secretions. The spread of avian influenza between poultry premises almost always follows the movement of contaminated people and equipment. AI also can be found on the outer surfaces of egg shells. Transfer of eggs is a potential means of AI transmission. Airborne transmission of virus from farm to farm is highly unlikely under usual circumstances. HPAI can be spread from birds to people as a result of extensive direct contact with infected birds. Broad concerns about public health relate to the potential for the virus to mutate, or change into a form that could spread from person to person. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is aggressively working to ensure public health is protected. More information about the joint efforts of the federal government is available at www.pandemicflu.gov

Question

What is avian influenza?

Answer

Avian influenza (AI) is a disease found among poultry. AI viruses can infect chickens, turkeys, pheasants, quail, ducks, geese and guinea fowl as well as a wide variety of other birds, including migratory waterfowl. Each year, there is a flu season for birds just as there is for humans and, as with people, some forms of the flu are worse than others. AI viruses can be classified into low pathogenicity and highly pathogenic forms based on the severity of the illness they cause in poultry. Most AI strains are classified as low pathogenicity avian influenza (LPAI) and cause few clinical signs in infected birds. In contrast, high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) causes a severe and extremely contagious illness and death among infected birds.

Question

Is it safe to eat lightly cooked egg dishes, or use recipes that call for raw eggs?

Answer

Today some unbroken fresh shell eggs may contain certain bacteria that can cause foodborne illness. The bacteria are Salmonella enteritidis. While the number of eggs affected is quite small, there have been some scattered outbreaks in the last few years. Currently the government, the egg industry and the scientific community are working together to solve the problem. Researchers say that if present, the Salmonella bacteria are usually in the yolk or "yellow." But they can't rule out the bacteria being in egg whites. So everyone is advised against eating raw or undercooked egg yolks, whites or products containing them. People with health problems, the very young, the elderly and pregnant women (the risk is to the unborn child) are particularly vulnerable to Salmonella enteritidis infections. A chronic illness weakens the immune system making the person vulnerable to foodborne illnesses. (Source:  Egg and Egg Product Safety. See also Focus On Shell Eggs.)

Question

What is a safe internal temperature for cooking meat and poultry?

Answer

Most pathogens are destroyed between 140 and 160 °F. However, for best quality, meat and poultry require various temperatures for "doneness." A chart, listing safe internal temperatures for many foods, is part of the brochure Use A Food Thermometer, featuring Thermy™. For more information, visit the Thermy™ Web pages. The temperatures on the chart are recommended for consumer cooking. They are not intended for processing, institutional, or foodservice preparation. Food service professionals should consult their state or local food code.

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