RIYADH — The Ministry of Commerce and Industry is working to remove instant noodle products containing pork, Makkah reported. The ministry has opened an investigation with the importer that distributed the products in the first place. The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) has also launched an investigation to find out how the shipment of noodles was cleared by customs authorities. Preliminary investigations have indicated that the shipment must have been smuggled with the help and collaboration of some customs officers. In a statement Saturday, SFDA said it knew about the products but did not grant approval for distribution because they contained pork, banned colorings and gelatin from an unknown source. The Customs Department promised the newspaper it would provide more information about the shipment on Monday. Its spokesman Isa Al-Isa said he had to talk to customs officers before he could comment on the issue. A citizen contacted the ministry last Friday, telling them he had discovered a pack of instant noodles contained pork. The ministry sent out some of its inspectors to verify the report, only to find that a large quantity of the noodles had been distributed all over the country in numerous cities, including Riyadh, Jeddah, Taif, Bisha and Yanbu. A source inside the ministry said it would enforce commercial fraud laws against anyone who endangers public health. The ministry has already intensified its inspection visits to all targeted markets to take the noodles off the shelves, according to the source. The government department found out that customs officers received documentation of the products before they ended up on the shelves of most supermarkets, adding that even the wholesale traders had been called in for investigation. The ministry said it would not hesitate to sanction anyone responsible for the incident.
