Authorities in Makkah have intensified inspection of food and beverage stores and vendors in a bid to ensure quality and prevent traders taking advantage of higher demand during the peak season.

The Commerce Ministry, Makkah Municipality and security forces have joined hands in carrying out inspection raids to eradicate unhygienic and substandard food supplies.

Authorities are also on the lookout for beverage transportation vehicles that lack temperature control systems.

The Makkah Municipality, meanwhile, has been conducting random checks on eateries and food and beverage warehouses to ensure they meet hygiene and storage standards.

“We have confiscated more than 700 cartons of juice and water bottles that were found to have been stored in sunlight, while others had passed their sell-by date,” Khazr Al-Zahawi, public health and food hygiene director at the Makkah Municipality, said in a statement on Tuesday.

“The municipality also confiscated 200 kg sambusak (stuff pastries), which they found in deplorable hygienic conditions, in addition to 50 kg minced meat, 50 kg sambusak dough and 30 kg cooked rice from a restaurant.”

Makkah police also confirmed in a statement that it had confiscated a huge quantity of “sobia,” a popular Saudi beverage that was being sold by two African men, said a Makkah police spokesman.