The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) has closed seven medical supply stores in Riyadh after it was found that they had committed various health and safety violations, bringing the total number of the closed stores to 42 in the last two months, according to local media sources.

As part of the inspection raids, the SFDA discovered two stores in Dammam and Jeddah which lacked appropriate storage conditions where some 59,000 kg of rotten or expired food items were found, media outlets reported recently.

In a statement posted on its website, the SFDA justified the closure of these stores in Riyadh by noting that the stores did not comply with the deadline given to them to correct their status with regard to previously identified violations, nor with the regulations set out by the SFDA, including the requirement to obtain proper licenses to engage in selling medical products and equipment.

The Jeddah store in question reportedly lacked minimum food storage conditions where some 55,953 kg of items were either expired or rotten, the SFDA statement said. Similarly, a Dammam store was housing some 3 tons of expired items which were being stored with other consumable items that were similarly affected, the statement said.

"The inspection campaigns are primarily conducted to ensure that the medical supply stores fully apply the relevant regulations and standards set by the SFDA which, in the long term, seeks to guarantee the safety and quality of medical supplies and consumables in the Kingdom,” the statement said.