AMMAN — The Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA) conducted 1,461 inspections on food establishments last month, during which 33 food outlets were shut down, according to a JFDA statement issued on Tuesday.
The JFDA said warnings were issued to 657 other food outlets across the Kingdom in December 2013.
Most of the closures and violations were in restaurants in Irbid, 80km north of Amman, while Zarqa, 22km east of Amman, witnessed the lowest number of violations, the JFDA said, without elaborating on the number of violations in each city.
In addition, the JFDA destroyed more than 219.2 tonnes of food items, which were found unsuitable for human consumption, and seized 350 tonnes of imported foodstuff that will either be destroyed or sent back to the countries of origin.
The JFDA also conducted 220 inspection visits to pharmacies last month that led to the closure of seven, while five were referred to court and eight received warnings.
Moreover, it refused the entry of various types of donated medicine worth JD19 million because of issues related to their expiry date, according to the statement.