| Summary: | This research aims to explore how male Saudi Food Inspectors (SFIs) contribute to food safety, and, in particular, how they behave during their everyday working practices at the inspection agency and food businesses locations. SFIs have been recognised as Street Level Bureaucrats (SLBs), because of the distinctive nature of their occupation as law enforcers and front line workers. Food Inspectors are an imperative governmental agent in the food industry. They have an important role in the protection of society by reducing risks of food-borne illnesses, commercial food adulteration and food fraud. These issues present real threats to the food industry worldwide. An etlmographic research method for this project meant a focus on informal interviews and field participant observation. Twenty-five SFIs working in the Riyadh Municipality were selected from different worksites in Saudi Arabia 's capital. Empirical data were analysed by employing a grounded theory approach through theoretical sampling. The analysis involved comparing the daily practices of SFIs with Police officers (SLBs), due to the similarities between the two groups and the lack of ethnographic studies on food inspectors. While there are serious policies within Saudi food organisations to improve food inspection and the inspectors' work, a number of organisational, regulatory, political and social concerns identified in this research clearly inhibit progress. These concerns will influence the nature and delivery of food inspection services In Saudi Arabia. The research found that SFIs survIve within a society mixed with traditional and modern features, resulting in regulatory challenges when it comes to implementation compared to other developed countries. Thus, we cannot expect SFIs to behave like SLBs such as Police officers. Given the findings of the study, several improvements are proposed to enhance the organisational work and enforcement activities of SFls within regulatory and scientific frameworks that will decrease troubles in the workplace with fellow staff and with law offenders in the field. Further studies are required to look at the numerous dilemmas faced by SFIs in Saudi Arabia at the regional level. VII
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