At the First International Food Safety Conference which concluded here recently, speakers from the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, Saudi Arabian Standards Organization and other international organizations discussed concerns and issues related to the Saudi food industry with special emphasis on consumer health. Thirteen internationally renowned food experts participated in the two-day conference and stressed the importance of food safety, food safety regulations, inspection of food outlets and products, system certification for food organizations and excellence for continual improvements. Leading food companies Al-Baik, Nestle and Diversey, sponsors of the seminar, arranged for international experts to discuss efforts to improve food hygiene in Saudi Arabia. Muhammad Azam Khan, a food company consultant, said the basic idea behind conducting the seminar was to create awareness among consumers and food manufacturing and processing companies about the significance of food safety in Saudi Arabia. “A large number of consumers in Saudi Arabia are not aware of what food safety is all about,” he said. He said the conference, organized concurrently in three major cities in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, conveyed a strong message to consumers and food handlers that it would be wrong to necessarily believe claims by certain food manufactures that their food is of the highest quality and is, therefore, safe. Khan said that food companies and producers often claim to have quality certification for their products when, in fact, they do not. “Quality and food safety are two different issues that should be dealt with separately. Good packaging for food items is a necessity, but it is equally important to ensure that all food safety measures have been followed,” he explained. Experts at the conference focused on a number of food safety areas that they felt that consumers and authorities in Saudi Arabia need to pay attention to. “The key objective is to support food security mainly by the transfer of technical expertise and policy advice in areas of food safety and quality in the Kingdom,” Khan said. “At the micro level, the activities will help to implement good manufacturing practices (GMP) that will ultimately result in good hygiene in the production and distribution chains,” he said. At the macro level, the seminar explored activities that support the gradual integration and competitiveness of the agro-food sector, along with many others. Khan said it would also be incumbent upon the food industry in Saudi Arabia to adopt better training programs for the safe handling of food. The important point is to target the environmental health of consumers, he said. Other speakers who presented research papers included Dr. Anwar Abdullah, Secretary General GCC Standardization Organization; Prof Chris Griffith, University of Wales and Raymond Ellard, Director of Food Safety Authority of Ireland. Dr. Abdullah was the keynote speaker and presented the GCC outlook on food safety while Prof. Griffith discussed food safety challenges for the food industry and governments.
