Saudi Gazette report

Riyadh — The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) has assigned a unified call center number 19999 for citizens and expats to report and enquire about the safety of food products, medicines, medical equipment, cosmetics, fodder, and insecticides.

They can also alert the SFDA about the sale of herbal products claiming health benefits, cosmetics not approved by the SFDA, poor quality of cosmetics, medicines or infant milk formula which have different taste, color or smell.

The SFDA can also be informed about registered medicines and cosmetics products in case of side-effects or about the sale of medicines and cosmetics against which a warning has been issued, about improper storage of medicines and medical equipment, or if a health company is found using unregistered medical equipment.

Citizens and expats can also inform the SFDA about poor quality of drinking water which has an unpleasant taste or has been transported under the hot sun.

The unified call center will provide precise information to guarantee the safety of food products, the efficacy of medicines and the quality of medical equipment.

It also provides information on the warnings and alerts issued by the SFDA and the list of approved food products, registered brands of bottled water, medicines, registered herbal and veterinary products, their prices and the points of sale, registered cosmetics, vitamins with prices, and medical equipment.

The unified call center accepts enquiries and reports from citizens and expats from Saturday to Thursday between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. and on Friday between 2 p.m. and 10 p.m., said Executive Director for Awareness and Information at the SFDA Abdul Rahman Al-Sultan.

There is an option to record a call outside the office working hours of the center.

The number of calls received by the center in Arabic and English languages rose from 436 in 2015 to 16,955 in 2017, said Al-Sultan.