New measures to improve food in prisons

RIYADH: The General Prison Directorate (GPD) plans to hire more nutritionists and introduce several new measures to further improve food at the country’s correctional facilities, according to a recent report in a local daily.
Around 140 individuals have nutrition degrees and other qualifications. The staff numbers would be increased to ensure the GPD keeps up with developments in the field, particularly for prisoners who have allergies and other medical conditions. The GPD provides 230,697 meals a day for prisons in the Kingdom, which is an average of 6.9 million meals every month.
Brig. Gen. Amer Al-Qahtani, director of the general directorate for nutrition, and chairman of the central food committee, said that the directorate held a number of workshops to help improve the quality of meals provided. These workshops were held under the directives of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif, deputy premier and interior minister.
Al-Qahtani said a study was launched in 2014 looking at the state of nutrition in the country’s prisons, with the participation of several government and private bodies. The study came up with a number of recommendations, most importantly the formation of a higher committee to oversee and develop nutrition. Those involved included the GPD, the ministries of interior, health, finance, and municipal and rural affairs, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, and the Saudi Society for Food and Nutrition.
The committee recommended the establishment of a General Directorate for Food in prisons to continue the work of the committees, but under a different name. They also recommended reviewing the conditions and specifications of food services and contracts. The committee incorporated experiences of other countries.
The higher committee for the study and development of nutrition in prisons held several meetings and toured some facilities to produce quality guidelines. The committee is linked directly to the director general of prisons, and covers quality, services, specifications and conditions, health control, awareness and monitoring.
It was recommended that catering companies compete for tenders every three years, with administrative areas divided into the central, western, southern, northern and eastern areas. Awarding tenders would be done according to the government’s procurement and competition legislation and based on quality specifications and requirements.
There would also be external monitoring bodies including provincial governorates, the municipal and rural affairs ministry, the Audit and Investigation Bureau, medical services at the interior ministry, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority and the Human Rights Commission.
The GPD has set up central kitchens Riyadh, Jeddah, Taif and Dammam prisons. These kitchens meet the upgraded health requirements and are aligned to the ISO 22000 Food Safety Management System that can be applied to any organization in the food chain.
Becoming certified to ISO 22000 allows a company to show their customers that they have a food safety management system in place.
The general food directorate is also working on providing workers with technical and professional skills through training programs.