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Discuss this article (0 Comments)Sink or swim: Assessing the current status of food safety in the Middle East
by ArabianBusiness.com staff writer on Tuesday, 10 March 2009
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We ourselves have just set up a section in Delhi where people can use that as a central learning hub, so that they can come into the country with a certain level of understanding about food safety and hygiene.
And I think this could be looked at for all major feeder regions for the hospitality industry here; we could even get to the point where people have to show a certificate to apply for certain jobs in the region.
Kairu: That's a very good idea - the visa formalities can take a long time, so it would be worth investing in some training so the new employees can learn while they're waiting to come over.
We’ve been established in the UK for 20 years and coming to the Middle East for 10 years. We look after primary the hospitality sector, where we provide both food safety and health and safety, assisting in putting in management systems, for instance by implementing HACCP, then taking that forward through training programmes.
The central topic for this year's International Food Safety Conference is ‘food safety in light of food security'; how relevant is this issue to the region?
Bailey: I think the organisers should be congratulated on the topic they chose, because it's a truly global issue.
Food security means actually having food to eat; of course it needs to be safe food, but when as many as 93 million people a day go to bed hungry and over 500 million children a year die from malnutrition, for them having the food is the important bit; they don't care if it might have salmonella or some other disease in it.
For those of us in the food safety arena, the challenge is how to move past the issue of food security and start addressing the problem of food safety.
Christopher-Ohrt: Of course, the Middle East F&B industry doesn't begin and end with top-level hotel outlets in Dubai; there are areas of the region facing real food security and food safety issues.
I would say the two main things to get straight - across the whole world - are firstly food mountains; foods which are overproduced because they're subsidised or whatever, and then just rot. Why on earth are we letting this happen? We should be distributing this.
The second thing is where places will throw away fruit or vegetables or whatever that are misshapen - that's terrible, we should utilise them and send them to places that are in need.
From our side, from a food safety perspective, what we need to be doing is finding out how to give products a longer shelf life so they can be moved round and we also need to ensure these foods are moved safely and correctly.
Rashid: I think logistics has a key role to play in this problem; as we move food around, what we don't want to do is lose the food and render it inedible. We want it to get from A to B in as safe a condition as possible.
If we can control elements during transportation, looking at temperature control and using preservatives to enhance the shelf life, all these aspects will help.
What did you think of this year's IFSC?
"I think it was an excellent topic this year - the idea of security in light of food safety is very appropriate today. And what we need to do now is work together as an international industry to get the message out that food safety is simply the cost of good business.
"Being from America, which is a far more litigious society than others, one quickly recognises that safety measures are simply the cost of doing business. If you're running a resort or a restaurant and you have a food-related outbreak, then that manager who was cutting costs the day before can't spend enough money the next day to try and get that reputation back.
"The best way to avoid that is to do it right to start with. And we need to spread that message: food safety is an intrinsic part of business." - bioMérieux director of scientific affairs - industry and president of the International Association for Food Protection Dr J Stan Bailey.
"In terms of numbers it's very well attended, I have to say. There was a fear that because of the growing economic impact across the region - and indeed the world - there may be a drop in attendance, but we found it had actually grown in size.
"That implies that the interest in food safety is still there." - JohnsonDiversey Consulting regional director - GCC, Middle East and Africa Abdul Rashid.
"One thing I noticed was how truly international the conference this year is, which is a real credit to the organisers. On one level, the speakers are addressing international issues not just regional ones. They are actually offering the big picture, which is so rare. - "The second thing is the people who are attending and the diversity of different countries that they are from. To me, that's a mark of how successful IFSC is as an international conference." - Hands Partnership managing director Peter Christopher-Ohrt.
"I think it was an excellent topic this year - the idea of security in light of food safety is very appropriate today. And what we need to do now is work together as an international industry to get the message out that food safety is simply the cost of good business.
"Being from America, which is a far more litigious society than others, one quickly recognises that safety measures are simply the cost of doing business. If you're running a resort or a restaurant and you have a food-related outbreak, then that manager who was cutting costs the day before can't spend enough money the next day to try and get that reputation back.
"The best way to avoid that is to do it right to start with. And we need to spread that message: food safety is an intrinsic part of business." - bioMérieux director of scientific affairs - industry and president of the International Association for Food Protection Dr J Stan Bailey.
"In terms of numbers it's very well attended, I have to say. There was a fear that because of the growing economic impact across the region - and indeed the world - there may be a drop in attendance, but we found it had actually grown in size.
"That implies that the interest in food safety is still there." - JohnsonDiversey Consulting regional director - GCC, Middle East and Africa Abdul Rashid.
"One thing I noticed was how truly international the conference this year is, which is a real credit to the organisers. On one level, the speakers are addressing international issues not just regional ones. They are actually offering the big picture, which is so rare. - "The second thing is the people who are attending and the diversity of different countries that they are from. To me, that's a mark of how successful IFSC is as an international conference." - Hands Partnership managing director Peter Christopher-Ohrt.
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