AUB symposium says improving food safety protects health and profitability

Organized by FAFS and the FAFS Alumni Chapter of AUB, the symposium brought together various food leaders and specialists to find solutions for weaknesses in the Arab world's emerging trends in food and safety.

"The food we eat food no longer comes from our direct environment, but from all over the world," said Economy and Trade Minister Sami Haddad at the opening ceremony. As a result, many outbreaks of food-borne diseases that were once contained within a small community may now take on global dimensions."

Minister Haddad added that since the developed world has tightened its regulations on imported food, with good reason, Lebanese food producers have found themselves being confronted with new demands, compelling them to improve their systems and methods so they could ensure compliance with food safety rules in Lebanon and export markets."

Haddad conceded that change is not always easy. "It takes time to adapt, it leads to additional costs, and in the meantime some of our products are denied access," he said.

"The Arab world is among those developing regions that lack adequate food safety and bio-security awareness and proper implementation," said FAFS Dean Nahla Hwalla. "Hence, we are constantly looking into new ways to make our eating experiences safe and healthy."

For this reason, Hwalla highlighted the need for more research to be conducted, "all along the entire food chain, from the field to the table." She added that there is a dearth of information on the topic and that databases for food-borne illnesses in the region are seriously lacking, often underestimating incidence of disease by ten times.

Haddad said that his ministry was working to improve the situation, by providing support to the food production sector and upgrading laboratories that conduct food safety tests. One of the beneficiaries of this initiative is the Environmental Core Lab at AUB, which is one of 13 labs nationwide receiving support and training to achieve international accreditation.

Moreover, a Food Safety Law has been drafted by the Cabinet and referred to Parliament for endorsement, but the process has been halted due to political paralysis over the past year. In the meantime, the ministry is working through the EU-funded Quality program to develop an independent Lebanese Food Safety Authority which will conduct risk analysis of the various food safety production companies.

Musa Freiji, FAFS alumni chapter president, said that encouragement of production should go hand-in-hand with food safety measures.

"Developed countries, particularly the United States and Europe have long realized the importance of financially subsidizing agriculture and food production for the purpose of instigating innovation, technological advancements, food security and food safety. This policy has not changed up till now for the past 50 years," he said.

In contrast, Lebanon "rushed to sign bilateral and regional free trade agreements, contrary to the interest of its own people," he said." Thus it found itself being dumped with cheaper products from neighboring countries."

Professor Ewen Todd, the director of the Food Safety Policy Center at Michigan State University and teaches there, was the keynote speaker for the day. He said that "there needs to be continual efforts to integrate industry production and profit-seeking to consumer demand for increased safety information. Retailers and manufacturers will be able to warn purchasers electronically of products subjected to recalls as well as giving pertinent safety instructions via email or the web."