Available now in 62 countries, following each country’s own food hygiene rules.

Chef Hygiene
Menu

Saudi Arabia: for every food business

Ready for the food inspection. Every day.

In Saudi Arabia the app follows the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing's Restaurant Requirements 1446H (2025), under the Food Law and the SFDA's Executive Regulation. Your municipal licence and your workers' health certificates stay on Balady: Chef Hygiene keeps your daily records, it does not license you or file anything with Balady or the SFDA.

Download on theApp StoreGet it onGoogle PlayGet it fromWindowsOpen theWeb app

14 days free · one price per site · no contract

The Chef Hygiene app on a computer: the home screen of a kitchen with its daily checksThe Chef Hygiene app on a phone: the home screen of a kitchen with its daily checks

Saudi Arabia: food hygiene rules

Inspection body
The municipality (amanah or baladiyah) under the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing (MoMAH); the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) can act too
Public rating
No
Languages in the app
English

Your inspection

The municipality (the amanah or baladiyah) licenses and inspects restaurants, cafés, kitchens and food shops under the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing's requirements; the SFDA can act too under the Food Law. Refusing the inspector entry, or not showing your records or letting them take copies or samples, is a grave violation (the food violations table 1447H). Civil Defence approves fire safety before the licence is issued.

A violation that is not grave first gets a warning and a grace period (1, 7 or 14 days); a grave one is fined at once, and the shop can be closed until it is fixed. Each fine is set by MoMAH's food violations table (1447H): it depends on the city's class (1 to 5) and the business's size (micro 25%, small 50%, medium 75%, large 100%) and is doubled on a repeat, so Chef Hygiene shows no exact amount. A food poisoning is fined SAR 3,000 to 30,000 for each person affected, with no warning, doubled for a repeat within a year (the food poisoning penalty table, March 2026). Under the Food Law the SFDA can fine up to SAR 1 million, ban the business for up to 180 days or suspend or revoke its licence (Art. 36).

Hygiene rating

We found no public hygiene rating, sticker or score for restaurants in Saudi Arabia's rules or on Balady. Chef Hygiene shows no rating card for Saudi Arabia: the goal is a visit with nothing to put right.

“Law” is a binding rule. “Official guidance” is not law, but inspectors expect it. “Chef Hygiene default” is a value the app checks against where no rule gives a number.

Temperatures

  • LawChilled food at 0 to 4°C; frozen food below −18°C, with the freezer checked at opening and closing; dry store 15 to 25°C (the Restaurant Requirements 5.5.3 and 5.5.9).
  • LawCooking to a core of 75°C, or 70°C for 2 minutes, 65°C for 10 minutes or 60°C for 45 minutes; reheating to a core of 75°C, never cooled again (5.5.6 and 5.5.8).
  • LawHot holding at 60°C or hotter, eaten within 6 hours; below 60°C, eaten within 4 hours or thrown away. Chilled food out of the fridge is eaten within 2 hours. Cooling: the core below 10°C within 2 hours, then at once to 4°C (5.5.11, 5.5.12 and 5.5.7).
  • LawDeliveries in: chilled at 4°C or colder, frozen at −18°C or colder (warmer frozen food is refused), recorded for high-risk food. Hot food delivered to customers at 63°C or hotter (MoMAH's Home Delivery Requirements 1446H).
  • Chef Hygiene defaultThe rules set no fridge-check frequency for restaurants: Chef Hygiene asks at opening and closing, like the freezer. School canteens record fridge temperatures daily in a register.

Staff, training and health

  • LawEveryone working in a food establishment holds the digital health certificate from Balady (paper cards are not accepted): valid 1 year, renewed from 60 days before it ends, and cancelled automatically if it is not renewed within 15 days after it ends. The health-education test is passed again every 3 years (MoMAH's Health Certificate Requirements Guide 1446H).
  • LawStaff with diarrhoea, vomiting, fever, skin disease or weeping wounds stay off work until the symptoms are gone or the authority's sick leave has ended; the business reports it when more than two staff have diarrhoea or vomiting (the Restaurant Requirements 5.10 and 5.5.18).
  • LawA person responsible for the establishment trains the food handlers and applies a food safety management system (the SFDA's Executive Regulation, Art. 50). Central kitchens and fine-dining restaurants need a certified food safety specialist.

Allergens

  • LawThe 14 allergens of every item, given in the menu, on a board or a product ticket, or by trained staff; allergen foods labelled and stored apart; labels and boards in Arabic, with any other language beside it (the Restaurant Requirements 5.5.15).

Fire safety checks

  • LawCivil Defence approval before the municipal licence is issued, and the fire volume of the Saudi Building Code (SBC-801); a first-aid kit, the Civil Defence instructions on a board, and nothing blocking the way out of the shop (the Restaurant Requirements 1446H).
  • Chef Hygiene defaultExtinguishers, fire alarm, hood fire suppression and electrics: Chef Hygiene suggests dates you can change. The Civil Defence's own rules could not be opened, so we give no extinguisher count, hood suppression or fire drill rule.
  • Official guidanceEmergency: 998 Civil Defence (fire), 997 ambulance, 999 police; 911 is the unified number where it is available. Please check these numbers locally.

Records

  • LawRecords may be printed, or printed and electronic: the Restaurant Requirements allow digital solutions (5.5.17), and traceability may be paper or digital (5.5.19). No government platform takes the daily temperature or cleaning logs.
  • LawTraceability for all food, ingredients and packaging: supplier, date received, product, amount and batch, kept at least 180 days after the end of its shelf life (the SFDA's Executive Regulation, Art. 51; the supplier invoice can serve).
  • LawA cleaning schedule set in advance, insect traps working 24 hours, and a home-delivery log if you deliver (the violations table 1447H); a pest control contractor treats any infestation (the Restaurant Requirements 5.7.1).
  • LawBy kind of business, MoMAH's newest books: bakeries and sweets never fry above 190°C (2025); ice cream made on site is pasteurised to 85°C and displayed at −18°C (2026); groceries write down storage temperatures and remove expired goods within 2 weeks (2025); central kitchens hold a HACCP or ISO 22000 certificate.

Official sources

Checked

This page is general information, not legal advice. Check with your local authority.

Saudi Arabia: the Chef Hygiene app

The app loads these rules for your kitchen, checks your records against them and keeps proof for the inspector.

Download on theApp StoreGet it onGoogle PlayGet it fromWindowsOpen theWeb app

Other countries

Countries